From Bryan Hoch:
Clarke Schmidt knew what he was walking away from. As he pointed toward the sky and stepped off the mound at Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon, the right-hander left behind a no-hitter in progress — just six outs from history.
Waging a silent war with each step, Schmidt’s analytical side processed why his 103rd pitch would be his last; it matched a career high, and he’d been running on fumes to get through the seventh inning. Yet his competitive spirit burned through the fatigue, wholeheartedly believing he would find a way to finish the job.
Ultimately, caution won the battle. Schmidt settled for seven hitless innings and participation in a combined one-hitter, backed by four solo homers as the Yankees trounced the Orioles, 9-0.
NEW YORK — Clarke Schmidt knew what he was walking away from. As he pointed toward the sky and stepped off the mound at Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon, the right-hander left behind a no-hitter in progress — just six outs from history.
Waging a silent war with each step, Schmidt’s analytical side processed why his 103rd pitch would be his last; it matched a career high, and he’d been running on fumes to get through the seventh inning. Yet his competitive spirit burned through the fatigue, wholeheartedly believing he would find a way to finish the job.
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Ultimately, caution won the battle. Schmidt settled for seven hitless innings and participation in a combined one-hitter, backed by four solo homers as the Yankees trounced the Orioles, 9-0.“Being able to do it in front of the home crowd, the energy, you could really feel it when you’re out there late in the game,” Schmidt said. “Hearing the crowd after the seventh, I really appreciate that. I feel that energy. Words can’t describe that feeling when you’re leaving and you’re getting a standing ovation. Especially in this stadium, you feel like all eyes are on you.”
After issuing a pair of first-inning walks, Schmidt retired the next nine O’s until he drilled Ryan O’Hearn with a pitch in the top of the fourth. That would be Baltimore’s final baserunner against Schmidt, who set down the next 11.
Early in this one, I was really dogging Schmidt on what appeared to be him pitching scared to the Orioles hitters, issuing one-out walks in the first on seven pitches (starting 0-2) and then NINE pitches (starting 1-2) to Westburg and Henderson. Later, Schmidt acknowledged that he was pitching scared and, well, dude, what the fuck? Just don’t do that, as I ALSO noted that, based on talent, he obviously has the stuff to succeed, as he demonstrated by DOMINATING the Orioles after that point.
However, by throwing 27 pitches in the first inning, he really had no shot at pitching a no-hitter. The highest pitch count thrown in the Majors in 2024 was 119. The highest this season so far is 117. The highest in 2023 was 120 (by a single pitcher). Schmidt was at 103 through seven. There was no way he was going to get through nine innings with less than 120 pitches, and 103 was his career high already (and he needed a lot of pitches IN the seventh to get through it, and was clearly running on fumes in the 7th).
Would I have sent him out for the 8th and hoped for the best? Yes, I actually would have, and seen if he could get through the 8th somehow on, like, five pitches or some nonsense, but, at the same time, I think we all know that if he got through EIGHT, then the pressure to let him go back out there for one more inning would have been INTENSE.
Boone was also in a tough spot because the Yankee bullpen had worked a lot in Game 1 of this series (thanks to Max Fried coming up small), so could you really justify using one of your better relievers in a 9-0 game to get TWO innings? One inning, sure, but not TWO, so Boone went to JT Brubaker, making his Yankees debut, and his first game in the Majors since 2022! And after TWO separate umpires BADLY blew a check swing call against Gary Sanchez, the former Yankee (and current Orioles starting catcher) delivered a single to break up the no-hitter on Brubaker’s FIRST batter faced.
Ouch.
Well, that was unfortunate, but it was still a nice win. Volpe got three hits (but only the home run was on an actual well-hit ball), just in time to get the day off on Sunday (literally, it is a planned day off for Volpe), and the rest of the offense outside of Judge looked good. Judge, by the way, officially dipped below 1.200 OPS for the first time in a LONG time.
The featured image is Escarra celebrating Schmidt as the crowd gives him a standing ovation as he leaves after seven no-hit innings.