Cam Schlittler shoved in his first start of the 2026 season while Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton left the yard as the Yankees defeated the Giants, 3-0, on Friday afternoon in San Francisco.
It’s the 60th time Judge and Stanton homered in the same game.
After Max Fried and the bullpen blanked the Giants in Wednesday’s opener, the Yankees had an encore. Through two games, Yankees pitching has allowed zero runs on just four hits.
Here are the takeaways…
-Schlittler was on his game early, getting two strikeouts in the first inning, including getting Rafael Devers looking — thanks to a successful ABS challenge by the Yanks. Schlittler would continue to keep the Giants lineup off balance with his impressive pitch mix, even striking out four consecutive batters at one point.
His only mistake came in the second when Heliot Ramos doubled off of him. That would be all the Giants would get on Schlittler, who finished with eight strikeouts across 5.1 innings. He got 13 whiffs, most coming from his four-seamer, which averaged 98.5 mph.
Schlittler wasn’t stretched out in camp because a strained oblique set him back, so he only threw 68 pitches (49 strikes). His limit was at 70 pitches.
-Manager Aaron Boone used a right-handed heavy lineup on Friday as the Yankees were going up against the southpaw Robbie Ray. Ray is the only lefty starter they expect to see over the next week, so he felt it was a good chance to get Paul Goldschmidt, Amed Rosario and Randal Grichuk in the starting lineup. However, the former Cy Young winner got the top of the order in order to start the game and wiggled out of trouble in the second after Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jose Caballero singled with two outs.
Ray mowed down the Yankees lineup until the sixth. Goldschmidt led off with a double that was assisted by a carom off the wall on the right field side. Then Judge entered the box for his third at-bat. Ray took care of Judge in the first two, but the two would battle. Judge got a low strike overturned using ABS and Ray battled back from 3-0 to get the full count. However, the reigning AL MVP would get the last laugh, getting around a 93 mph four-seamer on the inside part of the plate to deposit a homer over the left field wall. The blast went 405 feet.
Ray would get one more out before he was pulled. The southpaw went 5.1 innings (89 pitches, 57 strikes), allowing two runs on five hits while striking out four.
-Stanton, after narrowly missing an opposite-field homer earlier in the game, launched a homer of his own in the sixth. The blast went 414 feet (108 mph off the bat) off reliever Jose Butto. After getting two hits in the opener, Stanton picked up another two and finished 2-for-4.
-Judge, who went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts in the season opener, flew out in his first AB against Ray and struck out swinging after his check swing couldn’t hold up on a 1-2 slider in the dirt. His third at-bat was the homer, but he then struck out looking in his fourth time to the plate. Judge finished 1-for-4 with the home run. After two games, he’s struck out six times.
As for the right-handers Boone put in the lineup, Grichuk went 0-for-2 before Trent Grisham came in the seventh innings. Rosario also went 0-for-2 before Ryan McMahon pinch-hit for him in the sixth, while Goldschmidt finished 1-for-5 but stayed in for the entire game.
-Five Yankees pitchers allowed just one hit on Saturday. After Ramos’ second-inning double, Schlittler, Fernando Cruz, Tim Hill, Camilo Doval and David Bednar allowed just two baserunners (both walks) in 3.2 innings. Here’s how the bullpen broke down:
Game MVP: Cam Schlittler
The Yankees were in a pitcher’s duel early and Schlittler kept the Giants off the board long enough for Judge and the offense to push across some runs.
Highlights
What’s next
The Yankees wrap up their series in San Francisco with a Saturday game that starts at 7:15 p.m.
Will Warren will take the mound against Tyler Mahle.
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