NEW YORK – It was a rare pitchers’ duel that lived up to the hype, advertising both the present and the future for two American League East rivals. Once the skies cleared over Yankee Stadium, Cam Schlittler and Trey Yesavage provided a window into what the next decade could look like.
They are hard-throwing, dominant and already playoff-tested: the kind of talent you build around. After trading zeros with Yesavage for six innings, Schlittler stalked off the mound stone-faced in the seventh, fuming after he’d blinked first in their stud-vs.-stud showdown.
Taking the mound after a rain delay of two hours and 11 minutes, Schlittler came out pumping gas. All of the 25-year-old’s pitches had a little extra juice compared to their season averages, with his four-seamer averaging 98.1 mph and touching 99.9 mph.
The Blue Jays produced few answers, managing a few hits but no real damage until the seventh. Ernie Clement reached on a softly hit ball to third base, and Schlittler lost Jesús Sánchez to a five-pitch walk that prompted a mound visit.
Believing Brandon Valenzuela would bunt, the Yankees had first baseman Paul Goldschmidt charging in. They were right; Valenzuela indeed squared, dropping a beauty.
With Goldschmidt in pursuit, catcher Austin Wells tossed aside his mask and went after it, too. The resulting pause was enough for Valenzuela to reach first base, loading the bases with none out.
“We were kind of selling out,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I think both guys maybe had a chance to make it. It was probably a better play for Wells, but because Goldy was playing it so aggressively, it looked like there was some indecision.”
Still, Schlittler had confidence he would escape. And why not? He has been among the American League’s most dominant pitchers, coming into Wednesday’s start 6-1 with a 1.35 ERA, generating early buzz as an AL Cy Young Award candidate.
“The experiences I’ve had facing them, you’ve got to get out of traffic,” Schlittler said.
Andrés Giménez had other ideas, refusing to give in as he shortened his swing, battling Schlittler for 11 pitches – the last of which was a 98.2 mph sinker that dipped out of the zone for ball four.
Boone emerged to claim the ball, and though Schlittler heard applause as he walked off the field, he stomped down the dugout steps. Believing he was out of view of the television cameras, Schlittler pressed his glove and his pitching hand to his cap, a show of frustration.
“We get out of that,” Schlittler said, “and it’s a whole different game.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. added a sacrifice fly off Jake Bird. The outing snapped a string of six consecutive starts permitting one earned run or fewer for Schlittler, whose 1.50 ERA is the third lowest by a Yankees starter through 11 starts, behind Max Fried (1.29, 2025) and Jack Quinn (1.32, 1919).
The 22-year-old Yesavage turned the game over to the bullpen after six innings, retiring 18 of the 20 batters he faced with eight strikeouts.
“More of the same,” Boone said. “He was, for the most part, filling up the strike zone tonight.”
For both hurlers, a Yankee Stadium showdown like this would’ve been a dream a year ago: Schlittler opened 2025 with Double-A Somerset, while Yesavage was with Single-A Dunedin in the Florida State League.
“They’re going to be in the league for a while,” Giménez said, “and they’re going to be great.”
The Yanks pushed across a ninth-inning run, but Louis Varland struck out Amed Rosario (batting in the No. 6 spot, where Trent Grisham had started the game but left due to an injury) to seal Toronto’s first win over New York this year.
Appropriately for a night which prominently featured impressive arms, Yovanny Cruz opened eyes with two spotless innings out of the bullpen in his Major League debut.
After eight seasons in the Minor Leagues, the 26-year-old right-hander struck out three in a crisp 15-pitch effort. Cruz threw 13 pitches for strikes while flashing a heater that averaged 99.8 mph and touched 100.9 mph.
“I thanked God in the bullpen maybe 200 times when I was warming up,” Cruz said through interpreter Marlon Abreu. “It was a long road to get here, a lot of injuries. A lot of things that I had to overcome. I’m just really excited and happy to be here.”