The New York Yankees somehow walked out of the first inning Monday night having given up only one run in ALDS Game 2 against the Tampa Bay Rays. Seriously, just one run. But don’t let that fool you. What actually happened was a complete defensive meltdown that put presumptive Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler through the wringer and cost him way more than a single point on the scoreboard.
Defense? What Defense?
It started right out of the gate. Schlittler, fresh on the mound, gets Yandy Díaz to hit a ground ball, something that should have been a routine out. But nope, Ryan McMahon’s glove decides to play pinball, the ball bounces off it, and Díaz is safe at first. Talk about starting with a bang, but not the good kind!
Díaz then scooted to second after Jonathan Aranda singled. Then the real chaos began. Jazz Chisholm Jr. fields a play, gets the out at second thanks to Lombard’s nice fielding, but his relay throw to first? Oh man. It was wild, way off target, bouncing off the Tampa Bay dugout. Díaz just waltzed home. That’s a second error, folks, and it gifted the Rays their 1-0 lead, without even a play at the plate!
You’d think they’d settle down after that, right? Wrong. On the very next at-bat, Liam Hicks swings and misses a 1-2 fastball, called strike three. Phew, right? Nope again! The Rays challenged, and replay showed Austin Wells, the catcher, made contact with Hicks’ bat, a catcher’s interference. Even though slow-motion showed the ball was already in Wells’ glove and Hicks was late, the call stands. Hicks gets first base, suddenly putting runners on first and second with just one out. Schlittler, the man who might win the Cy Young, is facing a nightmare start because his own team can’t get out of their own way!
Schlittler’s Grit Amidst the Chaos
Here’s where Schlittler shows you why he’s the Cy Young favorite. Despite all that absolute mess, with runners everywhere and his defense playing like they’d never seen a baseball before, he buckles down. He induces two crucial ground balls and gets out of the inning, keeping the damage to that single run. That’s pure mental toughness right there, just escaping what could have been an absolute explosion.
But make no mistake, those mistakes cost the Yankees big time beyond just the score. All that chaos, all those extra plays, all those errors forced Schlittler to throw a whopping 19 pitches in that first inning alone. Think about that! That’s a pitch count that can absolutely shorten his outing, and in an ALDS Game 2, when you’re trying desperately to avoid falling into a 2-0 series hole, you need your ace to go deep. Every single pitch Schlittler threw in that chaotic first frame is one less he can throw later, and that could come back to haunt the Yankees against the Rays.
What happens next for the Yankees is all about how they recover from this kind of sloppy play. You cannot give away free bases and extra pitches in the ALDS and expect to come out on top. Schlittler held it together, but the defense needs to wake up fast if they want to get back into this series and avoid being down 2-0.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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