TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Cam Schlittler was throwing a perfect game through six innings Wednesday night, the longest bid by a New York Yankees rookie in nearly 60 years.
The 24-year-old right-hander retired the first 18 Rays he faced before Chandler Simpson led off the seventh with a single to right. Schlittler finished with 6 2/3 scoreless, one-hit innings in just his seventh major league start. He struck out eight, all swinging, and walked two.
Even after losing the bid, Schlittler stayed composed.
“I wasn’t really thinking about it too much, but even when he got the hit, I didn’t really care that much,” Schlittler said. “The biggest thing is that we won, and I put the team in a position to win. And I got past that five-inning mark that I have been struggling to get through my last six starts.”
The Yankees did win, though Schlittler didn’t factor in the decision. The Rays rallied for two runs in the ninth to tie the game before Giancarlo Stanton and Austin Wells answered with back-to-back home runs in the 10th to lift New York at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Schlittler’s outing was the longest perfect-game bid by a Yankees rookie since Fritz Peterson went 6 1/3 innings against the White Sox on July 4, 1966. For six innings, he was nearly untouchable. He never reached a three-ball count, allowed only three balls out of the infield and generated 19 swings-and-misses.
“What a performance,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Dominant. Probably the best breaking ball he’s had all year to go with the fastball. He was just filling up the strike zone.”
Boone said Schlittler had a chance at a perfect game because of his efficiency — he threw 95 pitches — but noted the rookie tired in the seventh.
The effort wasn’t lost on his teammates.
“Amazing,” Aaron Judge said. “To hold a perfecto that long against a scrappy team that puts the ball in play, that’s tough to do.”
Through seven starts, Schlittler has a 3.22 ERA with 38 strikeouts and has allowed three runs or fewer each time.
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