Schlittler shines in debut, Jazz stays hot as Yankees power past Mariners

New York—Cam Schlittler shined in his Major League debut, while All-Star Jazz Chisholm Jr. also continued his hot hitting to help lead the Yankees to a 9-6 win and a series victory over the Mariners. Schlittler faced off against Logan Evans for the Mariners. 

In the top of the first inning, Schlittler worked around a leadoff walk and picked up his first two career strikeouts on a couple of 100 mph fastballs, and his first career strikeout was against the MLB home run leader, Cal Raleigh.

Jasson Domingues led off the bottom of the first inning with a single right back up the middle. Aaron Judge followed that up with a walk to quickly put two aboard with nobody out. Cody Bellinger then extended his hit streak to 14 games with an RBI single to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Giancarlo Stanton then ripped an RBI single into the right center to make it 2-0 before Evans could record an out. Jazz Chisholm Jr. brought across another run via an RBI groundout to make it 3-0. 

Schlittler picked up his third strikeout of the ballgame and worked a scoreless top of the second inning thanks to a beautifully turned double play from Anthony Volpe and Jazz. 

Dominguez crushed a two-out double in the right-center gap, his second hit in as many innings, but that would be all for the Yankees. 

In the top of the third inning, J.P. Crawford got the Mariners on the board via a solo home run into the short porch in right field to make it a 3-1 game. 

Jazz launched his 16th home run of the season to straight away center field to get that run right back and make it a 4-1 game. 

In the top of the fourth inning, the Mariners got that run right back via a solo home run from Jorge Palonco into the second deck in right field to make it a 4-2 game. 

Schlittler picked up his sixth strikeout of the ballgame to help retire the Mariners in order in the top of the fifth inning. 

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Belli picked up a single to right field. A couple batters later, Jazz crushed a two-run bomb, his second home run of the night and 17th of the year, to make it a 6-2 game. 

“It felt great," Jazz said about how he feels at the plate. You know, I felt pretty good swinging the bat today, barrelled up a couple of balls yesterday that I thought was going to get out. But they got out today, so I'm pretty happy." 

Schlittler came back out for the top of the sixth inning and gave up a leadoff double, then struck out Raleigh for the second time tonight, which ended up being the last batter he faced. Schlittler walked off the mound to a standing ovation, getting replaced by Jonathan Loáisiga on the mound. Loáisiga immediately served up a two-run home run to Randy Arozarena to make it a 6-4 game. 

Cam Schlittler's final line: 5.1 innings pitched, four hits allowed, three earned runs, two walks, 10 swings and misses, and seven strikeouts on 75 pitches. Schlittler threw his fastball 53% of the time, the slider 29%, the curveball 9%, the sweeper 5%, and the sinker 3% of the time. Schlittler looked dominant tonight in his debut, sitting 98 to 100 mph on his fastball all night, and had some nasty offspeed stuff to go along with it. 

"It's been my goal my whole life," Schlittler said. “So it's really good to go out there and put the team in a position to win and just kind of live out that dream.

"He did a great job tonight, man," Jazz said about Schlittler's debut. "He went out there, I know it's tough to debut in the Bronx and for the Yankees, but he went out there and held his own tonight. We're proud of him." 

Austin Wells bounced a ground double rule into the seats in left field to lead off the bottom of the sixth. A couple batters later, Oswald Peraza lined a ball to center fielder Julio Rodereugez, who misplayed it, allowing Peraza to reach on an E8. Jasson Dominguez then picked up a RBI single, his third hit of the night, to make it a 7-4 game. Judge followed that up with a two-run double to make it a 9-4 ballgame. 

Loáisiga remained in the game for the top of the seventh inning and served up another two-run home run to put the Mariners right back in the game to make it a 9-6 game, as Loáisiga's struggles out of the bullpen continue. Luke Weaver, who has also been struggling out of the bullpen since returning from the IL, replaced Loáisiga on the bump and picked up the final two outs. 

Weaver remained in the game for the top of the eighth inning and picked up two strikeouts and worked a scoreless inning. 

Devin Williams was called upon to pitch the top of the ninth inning, taking over for Weaver, and retired the Mariners in order, picking up two strikeouts to end this one 9-6 and give the Yankees the series win. 

The Yankees will look to sweep the Mariners tomorrow; however, they will have their work cut out for them, as All-Star Bryan Woo takes the mound for the Mariners, facing off against Marcus Stroman for the Yankees. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET on the YES Network.

My thoughts on the game: We found out before the game that the veteran DJ LeMahieu was DFAed. Nothing but respect for what DJ did in his time with the Yankees. In 2019 and 2020, when he finished 4th and 3rd in MVP voting, he was, hands down, the most exciting hitter to watch during those years besides Judge. Unfortunately, the contract didn't age as Yankees fans had hoped, given his injuries over the last few years—best of luck to him. As for the game, Schlittler's stuff looked dominant in his Major League debut, throwing that fastball 98 to 100 mph all night long. The offense was also great. Dominguez had three hits and got on base four times in the leadoff spot. Jazz was also excellent, hitting two home runs, and now has an .877 OPS and a 143 wRC+ on the season. Belli and Wells also had two hits. The offense was great all around, yet again with nine runs and 13 hits tonight. Weaver and Williams looked great out of the bullpen. The only downside tonight was the fact that Loáisiga gave up two home runs and four runs to keep the Mariners in the game. 

"It's been a tough couple of days...wish all the best for what's been a great player," Aaron Boone said on the Yankees designating DJ LeMahieu for assignment.