WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — There are a lot of issues surrounding the Yankees, but Marcus Stroman no longer appears to be one of them.
The right-hander bounced back from a mid-season slump to post his second consecutive strong start in what was a disappointing finish.
“I thought he was really sharp,” manager Aaron Boone said of Stroman after the Yankees’ relievers lost a 3-2, 10th inning loss to the Tigers in the Little League Classic at Bowman Field.
Stroman pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just four hits, walking two and striking out five batters.
Detroit didn’t get a hit until there were two outs in the third inning and didn’t really threaten until the fifth inning, when Josh John walked and Austin Meadows hit a two-out double to left-center field.
But a great relay from Aaron Judge to Gleyber Torres to Jose Trevino to get the ball caught by Jong at home was about all the help Stroman needed.
He relied on seven different pitches to get the velocity he needed during his downtime.
“I confused them. My sinker was good, my control was pretty good,” said Stroman, who struggled from mid-June until early August.
In eight starts, he recorded just one quality start, allowing 28 earned runs in 36 2/3 innings and seeing his ERA skyrocket from 2.82 to 4.10.
The Yankees gave Stroman more time to recover after his Aug. 2 downturn, and he returned a different person — a different type of pitcher than he was the first few months of the season.
“I thought he played better this time than he did last time,” Boone said of Stroman, who has allowed just one earned run in 11 innings over his past two starts. “He was really efficient, he attacked the zone and had good control.”
It was a busy day that involved arriving in Pennsylvania, rushing to the Little League World Series Complex, playing with kids for a few hours, then traveling by bus to Bowman Field to play an actual major league game against the Tigers, but several Yankees players still found time to take part in the Williamsport ceremony.
Or at least they tried to.
Several Yankees players took to the iconic hill overlooking the field at Lamade Stadium to try their hand at sledding, a tradition for the kids in attendance and a chance for the adults in attendance to feel like kids again.
Several ushers “peer pressured” Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells to slide down the hill, said Catching Director Tanner Swanson, who joined the group. They climbed the hill and were surrounded by a crowd halfway up, signing autographs and grabbing cardboard boxes before sliding down.
It was a rainy afternoon and they had trouble with traction on the grass. They tried a few times, got a few feet in and then gave up, although the crowd was waiting anyway.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. would later have even more success with the Hill.
But the group, including Wells, Volpe and Swanson, had fun with the kids, signed dozens of autographs and was able to tell others they got to take part in a fun Little League tradition, even if it didn’t go as planned.
“We didn’t slip up,” Swanson said with a smile.
“I don’t think we’re all the way down the hill yet,” Volpe said.
Juan Soto was hitless in three at-bats, walked one and threw one rare chant.
During his sixth inning at-bat, the Canadian Little League team began yelling, “Soto shuffle.” Soto did not shuffle, but after drawing a walk, he nodded in the direction of his team.
Chisholm, who is rehabbing a sprained left elbow, took the field again and grounded out to third base.
Chisholm has yet to swing a bat since his injury.
Clark Schmidt threw about 40 pitches during batting practice in Tampa, with Hal Steinbrenner in the crowd.
Schmidt is recovering from a right latitudinal muscle injury and could begin rehab as soon as next weekend.
Jason Dominguez, the 27th pick, played left field, and struggling Alex Verdugo was benched.
Verdugo has just 10 hits in 52 at-bats this month (.192 average) with just three extra base hits (all doubles). His OPS for the season has fallen to .657.
—Additional reporting by Greg Joyce
