NEW YORK -- Yankees right-hander Cam Schlittler showed he was human during a 5-3 victory over the Athletics Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.
It was a chilly 43 degrees at gametime, but Schlittler didn’t use it as an excuse.
“It was cold, but I handled it pretty well. It was better than last week [during his April 1 start vs. the Mariners],” he said.
In fact, Schlittler was dominating at first, pitching two scoreless innings and striking out three batters. But he showed that he could be scored on in the third. With runners on second and third and one out while New York held onto a 1-0 lead, A’s first baseman Nick Kurtz swung at a 2-2 four-seamer and doubled to right-center field, scoring Max Muncy and Jeff McNeil. The runs snapped Schlittler’s scoreless streak of 21 innings, which dates back to last season.
“I thought Cam was good. Not quite as dominant as his first two [outings],” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Not quite as sharp command-wise. But he still didn’t have any walks. You think he is going to roll out there for seven innings, throw 75 pitches and strike everyone out. He realized it’s not that easy.”
Two batters after Kurtz's double, Tyler Soderstrom made it a 3-1 game after doubling down the right-field line, scoring Kurtz. Schlittler threw 27 pitches that inning.
The right-hander departed the game after five frames, allowing three runs and striking out seven batters. But he still avoided being tagged with his first loss of the season thanks to Amed Rosario fueling an eighth-inning Yankees rally with the second of his two homers on the night.