TAMPA, Fla. — Cam Schlittler did not need much time to answer the worst start of his young career.
Five days after the Yankees’ rookie right-hander was ambushed by the Tigers for four first-inning home runs and a career-high six earned runs, Schlittler responded the way aces are supposed to respond: by taking the ball against the first-place Rays and shutting down Tampa Bay for eight innings in a 5-1 Yankees win Monday night at Tropicana Field.
It was the kind of start New York badly needed to open a three-game set inside the division, and the kind of start Schlittler seemed determined to deliver after a few days of outside noise. The Detroit outing was jarring, especially because it came just two starts after he struck out a career-best 13 batters over six innings against Cincinnati. But Schlittler did not treat the bad night as some larger warning sign. He credited the Tigers for jumping on him early and moved on.
What did not sit as well were the reactions that followed.
After hearing the chatter about possible regression, Schlittler turned Monday’s start into something more than a normal bounce-back opportunity.
“They want to say there’s regression because I have one bad outing,” Schlittler said. “It was personal to go out there and just have a dominant start, and put this team in the right position.”
He did exactly that.
Schlittler worked with pace, attacked the strike zone and never let the Rays build any sustained pressure. Tampa Bay managed only one run against him, a fifth-inning RBI single from Richie Palacios, but otherwise spent most of the night trying to catch up to a fastball that still carried late into the eighth inning. Schlittler finished with eight strikeouts, no walks and threw 72 of his 101 pitches for strikes.
For a Yankees team still grinding through inconsistent offensive stretches, that kind of efficiency changed the entire feel of the night.
The Yankees’ offense did not exactly overwhelm Tampa Bay with volume, but it made its damage count. New York finished with only three hits, and all three left the yard. That marked just the second time in franchise history that the Yankees hit at least three home runs and those were the only hits of the game. The first instance of this was July 15, 2004 against the Detroit Tigers in which they hit five home runs and had five hits overall, according to Katie Sharp.
Cabs are here
Jose Caballero made sure his old team felt his presence.
Facing the Rays, who dealt him to the Yankees at last season’s Trade Deadline, Caballero broke the game open in the fifth inning after Tampa Bay starter Griffin Jax had retired the first 13 Yankees hitters he faced. Two straight walks gave New York its first real chance of the night, and Caballero turned it into the swing that changed the game, launching a three-run homer to give Schlittler the cushion he needed.
He was not finished.
Caballero teed off on Tampa Bay again in the eighth, adding his second home run of the night and reaching a new career high with 10 homers on the season. It was his second multi-homer game as a Yankee, with the first coming on August 19, 2025 against…the Tampa Bay Rays.
For a Yankees offense still searching for consistency, Caballero’s power surge was more than a revenge-game storyline. It was the difference in a night when New York finished with only three hits, all of them home runs, and still had more than enough behind Schlittler’s ace-caliber effort.
Schlittler makes it hold
The long balls were enough because Schlittler made sure they would be.
Even after allowing the Rays’ only run in the fifth, Schlittler settled right back in. He retired eight straight before a one-out single in the eighth, then finished his night without letting Tampa Bay close the gap. By the time he walked off the mound, the Yankees had gotten exactly what they needed from the pitcher who has quickly become one of the most important arms on their staff.
Schlittler’s ERA dropped to 2.01, the best mark in the American League. It is also the lowest ERA by a Yankees pitcher through his first 19 starts of a season since Phil Niekro posted a 1.88 mark in 1984.
That is no longer just a fun rookie storyline. That is ace-level production.
And for Schlittler, the ability to turn frustration into fuel is becoming part of the profile. This is the same pitcher who admitted last postseason that he took the Red Sox fan harassment of his family personally before delivering one of the most dominant playoff starts in Yankees history. In Game 3 of the American League Wild Card Series, Schlittler became the first pitcher ever to throw at least eight scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts and no walks in a postseason game.
Monday was not October, but the edge was familiar.
A bad start. A few outside comments. A first-place opponent waiting in the division.
The first-time All-Star-selection took all of it and gave the Yankees eight innings of one-run baseball.
“You have one bad outing, it happens,” Schlittler said. “I’m just making sure that I continue to go out there and use my strengths and have that confidence.”
For the Yankees, that confidence was the difference between starting the series with more frustration and starting it with a statement.
Bednar slams the door
Schlittler handed the Yankees eight dominant innings, and David Bednar made sure there would be no late drama.
Protecting a four-run lead in the ninth, Bednar needed little time to finish off Tampa Bay. He forced a lineout, recorded a strikeout and then forced a flyout to seal the Yankees’ 5-1 win in clean fashion.
It was another sharp outing in what has quietly become a dominant stretch for the veteran reliever. Bednar now owns a 2.92 ERA on the season and has not allowed a run since May 18, a span of 14 consecutive scoreless appearances.
For a Yankees team that has spent stretches of the season searching for steadiness, Monday offered the exact formula they needed: an ace-level start from Schlittler, a little spark from the lineup to remind us the power is still there, and a no-doubt ninth inning from Bednar.
