Cam Schlittler struck out a career high 13 batters in the game and the Yankees bullpen added four more of their own as they had Cincinnati’s hitters befuddled all night. New York used a 4-run inning early on and never looked back as they topped the Reds 5-0 to open up the series in The Big Apple.
Both teams would get a runner on in the 1st inning but couldn’t produce a run. Cincinnati would get two men on in the top of the 2nd thanks to an error and a single, but back-to-back strikeouts ended that threat. The Yankees had better fortunes in their half of the 2nd as Jazz Chisholm homered to lead off the frame. Rhett Lowder then issued back-to-back walks and eventually he’d pay the price for that as Ben Rice unloaded on the third pitch he saw for a 2-out, 3-run home run that made it 4-0 for New York.
With a multi-run lead, Cam Schlittler continued to carve through the Reds lineup. He struck out two batters in the 3rd inning. He returned for the 4th inning and struck out the side, giving him 10 on the day to set a new career high. Schlittler wasn’t done, though. He came back in the 5th and struck out two more to push his total to 12 on the day.
Rhett Lowder settled in a bit after that rough 2nd inning and kept the Yankees off the board and pitched into the 6th inning. But a 1-out single from Anthony Volpe in that inning ended the day for Lowder as the Reds went to the bullpen to bring in Caleb Ferguson. The move paid off as Ferguson induced a grounder that led to an inning-ending double play.
After 13 strikeouts and no walks through six from Cam Schlittler New York went to their bullpen to start the 7th inning. Jake Bird came on to face the bottom half of Cincinnati’s lineup and he picked up where Schlittler left off – recording two strikeouts in a scoreless inning.
Zach Maxwell took over for Caleb Ferguson to begin the 8th inning and issued a 1-out walk to Jazz Chisholm, who then stole second. Another walk followed before Anthony Volpe lined a single into left to bring in a run and make it 5-0. That was more than enough as the Yankees set the Reds down in order in the top of the 9th to pick up a win in the first game of the series.
Key Moment of the Game
Ben Rice hitting a 3-run home run in the 2nd inning that gave the Yankees more than enough breathing room on the night.
Notes Worth Noting
Blake Dunn had two hits and he was hit by a pitch. The rest of the Reds lineup went 2-28 with one walk and 17 strikeouts. Dunn did not strike out. Sal Stewart only struck out once. Everyone else had multiple strikeouts.
Elly De La Cruz went 2-2 with a long home run and a walk in his first rehab game in Triple-A. You can watch that home run here. Pierce Johnson started that game on his rehab assignment and allowed a run on two hits to go along with a strikeout in an inning of work.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs New York Yankees
Saturday June 20th, 1:35pm ET
Andrew Abbott (4-4, 3.95 ERA) vs Will Warren (7-1, 3.47 ERA)