Andres Chavez
On Tuesday night, New York Yankees left-hander Max Fried had his second consecutive scoreless start to lead his team to a series-tying win over the Seattle Mariners. Cam Schlittler didn’t want to be left behind and followed Fried’s footsteps with his second straight shutout start, pitching 6.1 nearly perfect innings to lead the Bombers to a series win on the West Coast.
The Yankees survived a scare in the eighth inning and secured a 5-3 victory at T-Mobile Park, taking their record to an AL East-leading 5-1. The big blow of the afternoon came courtesy of first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who launched a three-run homer off Mariners starter George Kirby to turn a 1-0 lead into a 4-0 cushion in the sixth frame.
Then, in the top of the ninth and after Seattle had cut the Yankees’ lead in half, Ben Rice roped a long 427-foot home run to right center field to give New York a three-run lead.
Schlittler Stole The Show
Schlittler was the start of the show, though, pitching into the seventh inning and conceding just a couple of hits and no walks, while striking out seven. He is now up to 11.2 scoreless frames in the young season, not bad after being delayed with a back issue in spring training. He hasn’t given up his first walk yet and has fanned 15 batters. Amazing stuff.
Schlittler’s velocity was down a bit, as he averaged 96.7 mph with his fastball, down from 98.5 mph in San Francisco, but it was a cold Seattle afternoon at 47 degrees. He dominated anyway.
After doing virtually nothing in the first seven frames, the Mariners’ offense came alive in the bottom of the eighth. Camilo Doval relieved Fernando Cruz and quickly got the first out of the inning, but two singles and a walk loaded the bases for Seattle with two outs. Closer David Bednar conceded a two-run single to Cal Raleigh, but bounced back to strike out Julio Rodriguez to end the threat.
Bednar Got The Job Done But Threw 40 Pitches
Rice gave the Yanks some breathing room with his solo blast, and then Bednar returned to finish the job and get the four-out save, but not before giving up the Mariners’ third run on a Dominic Canzone RBI hit.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone let his closer throw 40 pitches, but at least he got the job done, and the team escaped with a win. After the Toronto Blue Jays’ loss, New York is now in sole possession of the top spot in the AL East.
The Yankees will get Thursday off before going back home to host the Miami Marlins for a three-game set at Yankee Stadium, from Friday to Sunday.
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