NEW YORK – Cam Schlittler views walks with the same disdain he usually reserves for online trolls. When his first four pitches sent a batter trotting toward first base, it was a clear signal that this evening might not be headed in the Yankees right-hander’s favor.
Schlittler labored through three innings, departing his shortest start of the season trailing by four runs as the Yankees lost, 13-7, to the Cardinals on Monday night to open a three-game series at Yankee Stadium.
“I like to take pride in having that control and limiting those walks,” Schlittler said. “I don’t really have an excuse for you. It wasn’t my night, and I’ve got to be better there.”
Schlittler has noticed that his bumpier outings seem to come in the Bronx, though he’s still searching for a rhyme or reason behind that. He fell to 2-4 with a 4.32 ERA in 10 home starts, compared to 8-2 with a 1.10 ERA in 14 starts on the road.
“Things have been a lot easier on the road,” Schlittler said. “I feel like I’ve been dominant on the road and I haven’t been able to do that here. It’s frustrating. At some point, we’ve got to make an adjustment and perform in front of the fans.
“ … The bad ones I have are always here, and that’s frustrating. Things should be easier here, playing in front of our fans. It’s frustrating for them to come here and expect good performances and not being able to deliver.”
Coming off consecutive sharp road outings against the Phillies and White Sox, Schlittler didn’t look sharp, issuing a season-high five free passes.
“He just never got into a good rhythm,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I felt like there were a lot of non-competitive pitches where there were some easy takes for them; a lot of really long at-bats. They were able to foul a lot of pitches off to extend those at-bats.”
Schlittler issued that leadoff walk to JJ Wetherholt ahead of Alec Burleson’s two-run homer in the first inning – the appetizer for Burleson’s three-homer performance, the first of his career.
José Fermin added a run-scoring double in the second inning and Nathan Church lined a run-scoring single in the third off Schlittler, who needed 83 pitches (51 strikes) to record nine outs.
“He just couldn’t really find the zone when he needed to,” catcher Austin Wells said. “I think they made him get in the zone, and when they did, they put some really good swings up against some good pitches. He just fell behind a lot, and when they swung, they made some really good swings.”
It was the second-shortest start of Schlittler’s career. He lasted just 1 2/3 innings against the Blue Jays on Sept. 5, 2025, in the Bronx.
Monday’s outing marked only the third time this year that Schlittler has permitted more than three earned runs in an outing.
“The stuff looked great; he just couldn’t really get it in the box there,” Wells said. “We tried to mix it up those last two innings, but they took some close pitches, a couple of waste pitches. It led to some really long innings there.”
Schlittler’s ERA rose to 2.26 from 2.04. He still leads the American League in that category, ahead of the Blue Jays’ Dylan Cease (2.41).
“I’ve got another opportunity Sunday, and I’ve just got to be better than that,” Schlittler said.