Schlittler Sizzles Again — Bednar & Yanks Hang On. NY 5 Seattle 3

April 2, 2026 paperbacklou 2026 0

Cam Schlittler was absolutely dominant again — throwing a 2-hit shutout into the 7th, striking out 7 and walking none, and leaving with a 4-0 lead — and the Yankee pen hung on for a 5-3 win over the Mariners on a Wednesday afternoon in Seattle.

Offense was provided by Ben Rice — who put NY up 1-0 in the top of the 1st with an RBI double; Paul Goldschmidt, who hit a Clutch, 2-out, 3-run HR in the 6th off righty Ace George Kirby; and by Ben Rice again with an insurance HR in the 8th.

Fernando Cruz provided filthy relief, but Camilo Doval got into trouble in the 8th and had to be relieved with the bases loaded and 2 outs. David Bednar came in and allowed a 2-RBI single by Cal Raleigh that made the game 4-2 at the time, but got the big final out.

Bednar allowed a run in the 9th to make it 5-3 and then — with the tying run at the plate — in a 10-pitch at bat, got Cole Young to hit a deep but playable fly to right for the old ballgame.

“Exciting to just see how dominant his stuff is,” said Manager Aaron Boone afterwards about Schlittler. “And just filling up the strike zone. He’s throwing the ball incredibly well obviously — it’s a great fastball, and a couple of versions of that fastball, with the sinker and the 4-seamer and the cutter.”

“His calling card since he got in the organization was his ability to throw strikes with his fastball, especially,” added Boone. “And now as he’s gone to another level from a stuff standpoint, that’s really served him well.”

NY takes 2 of 3 from Seattle and improves to 5-1. Seattle drops to 3-4.

1. Rice Gets Yanks Up 1-0 in 1st

George Kirby was only 10-8 4.21 last year but has been one of Seattle’s best pitchers for 4 years now, and was excellent for them against Detroit in last year’s playoffs, before getting ripped by Toronto.

Kirby got the first 2 outs of the game but walked Cody Bellinger, and Ben Rice ripped a double past 1st base into right — scoring the speedy Bellinger for a 1-0 Yankee lead.

2. Goldschmidt CLUTCH 3-Run HR Off Kirby in 6th Puts NY Up 4-0

After that, Kirby got into grove and was tough. The 28-year-old, 6’4 righty struck out righty Paul Goldschmidt to end the 1st, allowed a single to Amed Rosario in the 2nd but got a double play to end the inning, and pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 3rd and 4th.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled off Kirby to lead off the 5th — but he was thrown out trying to steal 2nd. Austin Wells reached on a 2-out infield single but Kirby got the final out and was cruising — NY up 1-0 in a pitcher’s duel through 5.

And in the 6th — Trent Grisham worked a leadoff walk — but Kirby got Judge to fly to right and struck out Bellinger looking.

With 2 outs however, Ben Rice worked a walk — and righty Paul Goldschmidt stepped up against the righty Kirby — and this time hit a 1-1 fastball on a high fly to left for a 3-run HR and 4-0 Yankee lead.

3. Schlittler Absolutely Dominant

Cam Schlittler meanwhile was the talk of the game — absolutely dominant with a dominant 97-MPH four-seam fastball offset by a dominant sinker, and filthy curve.

Schlittler worked quickly and with devastating effect — striking out 7 and allowing but 2 hits and no walks into the 7th.

Cam got the first out of the 7th and left at 79 pitches, with a 4-0 lead.

4. Fernando Filthy in 7th

Fernando Cruz relieved Schlittler with 1 out and nobody on in the 7th and got Josh Naylor to foul out, and struck out Randy Arozarena — and NY was cruising with a 4-0 lead through 7 innings.

5. Doval Gets in Trouble; Bednar Gets Out of It in 8th

But Camilo Doval got in trouble in the 8th. He got the first out, but allowed consecutive 1-out singles to Dominic Canzone and Cole Young. He struck out Rivas, but walked Brendan Donovan on 4 pitches — sinkers that went too low — and so the bases were loaded with 2 outs — the tying run to the plate in the form of Cal Raleigh.

David Bednar came in and Raleigh hit a 1-2 splitter into right for a single and a 4-2 ballgame.

But Bednar reared back with runners on 1st and 3rd and struck out Julio Rodriguez on a 1-2 splitter after Rodriguez had fouled off 3 straight pitches. PHEW. NY 4 Seattle 2.

6. Rice HR Provides Insurance

Ben Rice then led off the top of the 9th against Criswell with a 427-foot HR to right center and NY was up 5-2. A huge insurance run.

7. Bednar the Scary Save

Bednar came back out for the 9th — and got the first out — but Randy Arozarena tagged him for a 1-out double to left.

Bednar got a groundout to shortstop, but Dominic Canzone sliced a 2-out RBI single to right and it was a 5-3 game, tying run to the plate.

Bednar went 0-2 on Cole Young — but Young held tough — fouling off 4 pitches while working the count to 3-2 — before Bendar got him to hit a deep-but-playable fly to right for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401814777

 

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