MILWAUKEE — Brewers’ Pitcher Dominates Yankees
The Brewers showcased a young star on the mound Friday night, and the Yankees struggled to make any significant contact. Cam Schrittler stepped up and matched his counterpart, Jacob Misiorowski, in terms of un-hittability.
Unfortunately for Schrittler, his teammates missed several early scoring opportunities, and by the late stages of the game, the bullpen had slipped into a two-run deficit.
This mix of mishaps evolved into a heart-wrenching 4-3 defeat for the Yankees in the 10th inning at American Family Field.
Tied in the bottom of the eighth, the Brewers capitalized when Camilo Doval had an RBI hit, followed by a crucial sacrifice fly from William Contreras, advancing the score against Tim Hill.
In the 10th, Ryan McMahon briefly gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead with a clutch two-out single, but Fernando Cruz quickly allowed a run to creep in. A leadoff walk to Luis Rengifo (while attempting a sacrifice bunt) pushed the game towards disaster as he ended up at third base due to a wild pitch.
Then came former Yankee Gary Sanchez, who hit a fly ball to right-center. The Brewers, perhaps wisely, didn’t test Aaron Judge’s arm. However, Jackson Chorio’s grounder to José Caballero turned things around, and the tying run scored when Caballero mishandled the play.
Manager Aaron Boone called upon lefty Hill to face Bryce Turan, but an ill-timed throw to try and get a runner out resulted in a careless error that allowed Rengifo to score.
The Yankees, who were riding high earlier in the season, now find themselves having lost three of their last four games.
After a strong start with a shutout in the sixth, Schrittler exited while leading 2-0. Things changed quickly in the seventh when Brent Headrick hit his initial home run of the year and later allowed another run by Doval in the eighth.
Turan connected for a double off Doval, stole second, and then scored on a single from Contreras, leveling the game at 2-2.
Despite David Bednar closing out the ninth inning effectively, the rest of the bullpen harbored issues. The Yankees struggled against Misiorowski’s and the Brewers’ bullpen, batting 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position, leaving nine runners stranded.
In multiple instances, including an empty second inning with runners on first and second, as well as bases loaded in the fourth, scoring opportunities slipped away. Spencer Jones and Austin Wells were particularly guilty, leaving five men on base each.
Paul Goldschmidt managed to give the Yankees a 2-0 edge with a home run early on, and he followed that up with a bases-loaded single during the fourth inning.
Schrittler’s performance was stellar—just two singles allowed and six strikeouts. His ERA now stands at an impressive 1.35 over nine starts, holding opponents to a mere .177 batting average.
Headrick came in for Schrittler in the seventh and promptly hit his first home run, narrowing the gap to 2-1. Despite a walk after that, he managed to retire the following three batters efficiently.
In a worrying moment, Schrittler was struck by a hard ground ball from Contreras early in the game but continued without showing signs of injury, which might make fans breathe a sigh of relief.
