One reason why? New York was countering Milwaukee with its own flamethrower in Cam Schlittler.
“Obviously we saw a great fastball last night on the other side with Misiorowski,” Boone said before Saturday’s game. “They’re going to see one tonight from Cam.”
Boone knew Schlittler was going to unleash plenty of heat against the Brewers. What he didn’t know was that his young phenom would be able to do so while pitching on a bum leg.
Schlittler spent the majority of his start throwing through throbbing pain after taking a 108.5 mph comebacker off the back of his left thigh in the first inning. The discomfort he was feeling throughout the night was apparent to everyone at American Family Field.
So, too, was his ability to string together a masterful start despite it.
Schlittler grinded through six scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing two hits while lowering his ERA to 1.35 and never losing his trademark velocity despite whatever agony he was experiencing. That he was consistently limping to and from the Yankees’ dugout did little to stop him from putting together his latest gem in a season full of them.
The right-hander breezed through the first two hitters of the night before William Contreras scorched a liner right back to the mound. As Schlittler turned away from it, the ball struck him directly in the back of his upper thigh. He essentially absorbed the entire impact as the ball fell directly below him to the point where he initially couldn’t locate it.
Boone and the training staff immediately came out to the mound, and Schlittler’s first few warmup pitches were all well above the strike zone. But he stayed in the game, erasing any concerns his wayward warmup might’ve prompted by striking out Jake Bauers to end the inning.
To say Schlittler shook the moment off would be a misstatement, though. He moved gingerly throughout the night, and he could be seen lightly bouncing on the mound between pitches in order to stay loose. He fell to the side of the mound twice in the third, and he was slow to get back to his feet each time.
No one so much as stirred in the bullpen. Schlittler was somehow still able to routinely hit high 90s with his fastballs. His four-seamer averaged 98.0 mph, up 0.1 mph from his season average. He finished the night throwing 97 pitches, 68 for strikes.
It’d be an impressive line under normal circumstances. Schlittler just so happened to assemble it while at times barely being able to stand.