Yankees.com: Schlittler has hometown hiccup when error opens floodgates at Fenway

From Bryan Hoch:

Cam Schlittler grew up some 30 miles outside Boston’s limits in the green suburb of Walpole, Mass., constantly envisioning what it would be like to pitch from the slope of Fenway Park’s mound.

Nights like this weren’t what he had in mind.

Schlittler showcased the high-octane arsenal that continues to fuel his All-Star candidacy, but his latest homecoming went awry. Amed Rosario’s fifth-inning error opened the door for four unearned runs, including a Caleb Durbin homer, in the Yankees’ 6-3 loss to the Red Sox on Thursday.

“At the end of the day, I was giving them opportunities,” Schlittler said. “I felt like I battled those first four, getting myself out of jams, and then I ended up making that mistake in the fifth.”

The Yankees committed a season-high four errors while picking up an odd and unwelcome bit of history. It marked the franchise’s first game allowing six unearned runs or more – but no earned runs – since July 21, 1913, when it did it against the Tigers in Detroit.

“We just didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball tonight,” manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s just not up to the way we’ve been playing, or capable of playing. Ultimately, it was too much to overcome.”

This one is tricky. Often, when your team plays such terrible defense behind you, you want to give the pitcher a break, but despite the awful defense the Yankees played in this game, Cam Schlittler was still a major problem in this one.

At times, he showed off his tremendous talent, sometimes just raring back and destroying hitters in big spots. But he just made SO MANY mental mistakes, including, up 2-0 in the 5th inning, walking Yoshida (the leadoff hitter for the Red Sox) to leadoff the inning. He wasn’t even CLOSE on most of the balls.

And yes, the biggest play of the game was the ball going through Rosario’s legs on what would have been an inning-ending double play keeping the score 2-0, but it was still hit REALLY hard. And that was due to Schlittler falling behind a really nice hitter in Contreras 2-0. You fall behind 2-0 with two men on base to a good hitter, you’re going to be in trouble, and that was trouble. Yes, Rosario, a butcher on defense, should have gotten it, and that’s why Schlittler actually LOWERED his ERA in this game, but make no mistake, Schlittler had a BAD game. He threw WAY too many pitches, and he threw WAY too many balls.

He also let a popup drop right in front of him at one point like an idiot.

And yet, even with all of that nonsense, if Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger weren’t both mired in terrible slumps, the Yankees probably still win this game. Ben Rice managed to make the last out of the inning TWICE in the last three innings with the tying runs on base. He and Bellinger are hitting like shit right now, and, well, as you might imagine, if your two best players are both shitting the bed while your star player is on the injured list, that’s a major fucking problem.

About the Author

Brian Cronin

Administrator

Visit Website View All Posts