Schmidt Ambushed by Team Formerly Known as Indians. Cleveland 4 NY 0

June 5, 2025 paperbacklou 2025 0
Clarke Schmidt pitched into the 6th, striking out 8 and walking 1.

Clarke Schmidt got ambushed for 3 runs in the top of the 1st by the team formerly known as the Indians, then made adjustments and pitched a terrific game into the 6th — striking out 8.

But that was the ballgame as the Yanks got shut out by Luis Ortiz and the Cleveland bullpen — who stifled the Yanks and got 3 double plays to extinguish the few nascent rallies the Yankees had.

On a Beautiful Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx; game time temp 80 degrees.

Schmidt walked Steven Kwan to start the game, then got ambushed by next batter Angel Martinez, who hit a 2-run homer on the 1st pitch to him. Schmidt then allowed a double to Jose Ramirez, and after getting 2 fly outs, allowed a double to Daniel Schneemann for a 3-0 Cleveland lead while most fans were still getting to their seats at Yankee Stadium.

“I felt like they had a good approach, especially in the 1st,” said Clarke Schmidt afterwards. “The name of the outing was 1st AB walking Kwan and then got ambushed by the next (batter). Trying to throw a strike and get right back into counts and (Martinez) put a good swing on it — got a homer and the rest was history.”

“After that I felt we made some really good adjustments,” continued Schmidt. “I feel like we bounced back well — threw a lot of strikes; got a lot of swing and miss. So I was happy with that; getting into the 6th.”

NY drops to 37-23, in 1st in the AL East by 5.5 games ahead of Toronto and Tampa. Cleveland improves to 33-27, in 3rd place, 5.5 behind Detroit.

1. Schmidt Ambushed in 1st

Afterwards Schmidt explained the formerly-Indians ambush: “It was pretty obvious in the 1st that they were trying to hunt the cutter in, the sweeper in, the curveball in, and they were putting really good swings on it so credit to them. I’ve faced them a good bit of times. So after that it was like ‘how can we get the ball away from them?.’ I threw a few more fastballs away. I felt we were getting into good areas after that.”

Schmidt noted afterwards that he threw a lot of four seamers that were registered wrong: “I threw a lot of four-seamers tonite that were registered as cutters.”

Schmidt noted his four-seam fastball “is a pitch we’ve been working on and fiddling with over the course of this year. It just gets guys off the cutter, especially the lefties, and can be effective against righties, with swing and miss at the top of the zone, especially when guys are hunting my breaking ball package. When you can mix up usages and get guys off certain pitches that they’re obviously sitting on, that’s how you find success.”

Schmidt’s line: 5.2 IP, 7 hits, 3 runs, 8 K’s, 1 walk. He is now 2-3 4.04.

2. Ortiz & Double Plays Doom Yanks

Luis Ortiz is a 26-year-old, 6’2 right hander who came up through — and spent the last 3 years with — the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was 7-6 3.32 last year, his best year so far in the bigs.

Cleveland acquired Ortiz in a 3-team trade this winter with Pittsburgh and Toronto — Spencer Horwitz going from Toronto to Pittsburgh, and reliever Nick Sandlin going from Cleveland to Toronto.

Ortiz throws a 98-MPH four-seam fastball and a 96-MPH sinker, coupled with lots of 85-MPH sliders, and a filthy 90-MPH changeup.

Double Plays Doom Yanks

The Yanks got a baserunner on Ortiz in each of the first 3 innings — to no avail. Aaron Judge got a 2-out single in the 1st, and then Paul Goldschmidt walked to lead off the 2nd, but Anthony Volpe hit into a double play off a slider.

Trent Grisham walked with 2 outs in the 3rd, and Ben Rice followed with a single — but Aaron Judge (who had 2 singles on the evening) struck out looking at a slider.

Ortiz then pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 4th and 5th. In the 6th, Trent Grisham led off with a walk — but Ben Rice hit into a double play off a sinker.

Aaron Judge singled to center — and Ortiz was removed for Tim Herrin who got Cody Bellinger to ground out to end the inning.

3. Headrick Good

Schmidt pitched into the 6th, when he allowed 2 singles in between an out to put runners on 1st and 2nd in a 3-0 game. Schmidt struck out Arias for his 8th strikeout and was relieved by Brent Headrick who got Bo Naylor to fly out and keep the game within reach at 3-0.

Headrick then pitched a shutout 7th — himself getting Kwan to hit into a double play to erase a leadoff single by Nolan Jones.

4. Another Double Play Stifles Yanks in 7th

The Yanks had another nascent rally killed in the 7th by a double play — Jazz Chisholm Jr. reached on a 1-out error, but Anthony Volpe hit a Herring slider into his 2nd double play of the evening.

5. Cruz Back — Allows HR in 8th

Fernando Cruz was back from the Injured List, where he had been for a week — and pitched the 8th. He struck out the first 2 batters swinging, but allowed a homer to Kyle Manzardo to right center and it was 4-0 Cleveland.

6. Hill on the Hill in 9th

Tim Hill pitched the top of the 9th: single, line out, single, strike out, foul out.

7. Yank Rally vs Clase in 9th Falls Short

Down 4-0 and facing Cleveland’s ace reliever Emmanuel Clase in the 9th — the Yanks did not go quitely. Ben Rice led off with an infield single, and after Judge struck out, Cody Bellinger hit a ground rule double to left.

But Clase reared back and struck out Paul Goldschmidt looking and Jazz Chisholm Jr. swinging for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401695820

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