Yankees' bats go quiet in 4-0 loss to Guardians

New York—The Yankees showed up, but the offense did not as they fell to the Guardians 4-0 in a snooze fest. Clarke Schmidt got the start for the Yankees, and Luis L. Ortiz got the nod for the Guardians. 

Schmidt surrendered a walk to the lead-off batter in the top of the first inning, then Angel Martínez launched a two-run bomb to make it a 2-0 Guardians lead before Schmidt could record an out. A couple of batters late, Daniel Schneemann made it 3-0 via a two-out RBI double. 

"He got ahead of Kwan and then walked him,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said on what he saw from Schmidt in the first inning.  “And then it just looked like a cutter down the middle, that Martínez jumped on and put a good swing on. And I think he tried to go four-seam up and away, and Ramirez was able to hook him in the corner. And then he probably, I think, got too much of the plate with the breaking ball to Schneemann, and you know, three runs are on the board.”

In the bottom of the first inning, Aaron Judge lined a two-out single to right field, but that would be all for the Yankees as Cody Bellinger grounded out to end the inning. 

In the top of the second inning, Schmidt worked around a two-out single and picked up three strikeouts in the frame. 

Trent Grisham worked a two-out walk in the bottom of the third. The next batter, Ben Rice, lined a single to right field. However, Judge went down on strikes, looking to strand two runners on base. 

Schmidt worked an easy 1-2-3 top of the fifth inning on just eight pitches and picked up his seventh punchout of the ballgame. 

The Yankees went down in order in the bottom of the fifth inning as Ortiz had retired seven straight hitters and is shutting down the Yankees' offense.

Schmidt gave up two hits and picked up the first two outs of the top of the sixth inning, then was replaced on the mound by Brent Headrick, who picked up the final out of the frame. 

Clarke Schmidt's final line: 5.2 innings pitched, seven hits allowed, three earned runs, one walk, 13 swings and misses, and eight strikeouts on 91 pitches. Schmidt threw his cutter 52% of the time, the knuckle curve 22%, the sweeper 19%, the sinker 5%, and the fastball 2% of the time. Schmidt had a tough first inning but settled in really nicely in the last couple of innings. The Yankees' offense just didn't do him any favors. 

"I think after that (first inning) we made some really good adjustments, though,” Schmidt said. “I felt like we bounced back well through a lot of strikes, getting a lot of swings and misses. So I was happy with that, and getting into the sixth."

Headrick remained in the game for the top of the seventh inning and faced the minimum thanks to a tailor-made 6-4-3 double play. 

Jazz Chisholm Jr. reached with one out in the bottom of the seventh thanks to an E3 from Guardians' first basemen Kyle Manzardo. But Jazz was erased due to Anthony Volpe's second double play of the night. 

In the top of the eighth inning, Fernando Cruz replaced Headrick, making his first appearance since being activated from the IL. Cruz struck out the first two hitters he faced, then served up a solo home run to Manzardo to make it a 4-0 game. 

"I thought Cruz was really good," Boone said on Cruz. "I told him so, too. I know he obviously gave up the homer, where Manzardo got him and kind of ambushed him a little bit, but I thought the stuff was really good. I thought the fastball was good, and you know, tally up three more of the worst swings I've seen off the forkball or whatever." 

The Yankees went down in order in the bottom of the eighth inning as their offense remained nonexistent tonight.

Tim Hill replaced Cruz on the bump in the top of the ninth inning and worked into and out of trouble to work a scoreless inning. 

Ben Rice legged out an infield single to lead off the bottom of the ninth. A couple of batters later, Cody Bellinger bounced a ground roll double into the left field stands to put two runners in scoring position. But, both runners were stranded following strikeouts from Paul Goldschmidt and Jazz to end it 4-0 as the Yankees were shut out for the second time this season. 

The Yankees will look to win the series tomorrow with Max Fried on the mound, facing off against Slade Cecconi for the Guardians. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: Just a brutal game for the offense tonight, getting shut out for the second time this season, but in a 162-game season, you're going to have some games like tonight. Schmidt didn't have his best stuff early on in the first inning but did settle in nicely and ended up an out away from a quality start with eight strikeouts. Cruz made his return from the IL and gave up a home run, but did strike out three batters, so that was nice to see. Headrick was also solid; I've liked what I've seen out of him so far, he's a good, solid lefty for the bullpen. Hill also looked solid as he worked a scoreless inning. On to tomorrow, still a great chance to win the series. 

“Yeah, I thought we got pitched pretty tough," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "You know, we just didn't have a great night. I mean, it happens in the 162. So, get another opportunity to go win a series tomorrow.”