Schmidt kicks it old school in Subway finale

This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch’s Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

It was likely the most dramatic, emotional experience of Clarke Schmidt’s brief big league career to date, and the Yankees right-hander loved every second of it.

Schmidt was one of the stars of Tuesday’s 4-2 victory over the Mets, emerging from the bullpen to fire three scoreless innings of relief, picking up the victory behind starter Frankie Montas. Schmidt believes the performance could restore some of the Bombers’ strut.

“I think that's when the New York Yankees are at their best, when we have that edge,” Schmidt said. “A lot of people fear us when we come into stadiums, and to have that kind of momentum behind us and win two big ballgames at home against these guys and another big one against Toronto -- I think this is the beginning of something good.”

When Schmidt was promoted from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre earlier in the week, replacing injured right-hander Scott Effross, manager Aaron Boone said he could envision using the 26-year-old Schmidt in a variety of roles -- anywhere from a spot starter to a closer.

On Tuesday night, with a thin bullpen at his disposal, Boone decided to test Schmidt’s mettle as the old-school fireman. Schmidt’s challenge was to record the last 10 outs of the game, and he very nearly did so.

“It was the best. I think I was almost having a little bit too much fun towards the end of the night,” Schmidt said. “You find yourself out there just looking around, like, ‘This is really good to be a part of.’ To be present in that moment, it was so chaotic around the stadium, but in my mind, it was very calm. It was a lot of fun and I was happy to be out there, for sure.”

Assisted when Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Gleyber Torres teamed up to turn a nifty 6-4-3 double play in the seventh inning, the fist-pumping Schmidt kept the Mets off the board into the ninth. The first two outs of that frame came on only five pitches, with Mark Canha grounding out and Brett Baty flying out to left field.

One out away from sealing a much-needed victory, Schmidt’s adrenaline spiked, resulting in two walks and a hit before Wandy Peralta came out of the bullpen to retire Francisco Lindor on a fly ball.

Schmidt’s 60-pitch outing was a season high in the Majors, where he is 5-2 with a 2.18 ERA in 17 games (one start) this year. He plans to use that Subway Series performance as a building block for whatever comes next.

“To be in that environment and respond to some adversity, get some guys on, runners in scoring position and being able to get out of it with some ground balls -- there's a lot to take away from that,” Schmidt said. “There's a lot that I can learn from that and continue to grow off.”