June has been a rockier month for the New York Yankees. But after snapping a six-game losing streak on Thursday, the Yankees followed up with a big win in Yankee Stadium on Saturday.
A strong batting day, with four solo homers, launched the Yankees to a 9-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. New York starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt pitched seven no-hit innings to hold off Baltimore on offense.
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The Yankees’ bats left the Orioles bullpen scrambling — enough to put in shortstop Luis Vázquez as a reliever in the eighth inning. But on the New York side, Schmidt stayed steady: The 29-year-old, who threw a career-high 103 pitches, finished with five strikeouts and two walks in the shutout win.
In the eighth, with the Yankees holding the 9-0 lead, manager Aaron Boone pulled Schmidt and replaced him with reliever JT Brubaker, who had a chance to complete the franchise’s first combined no-hitter. Saturday marked Brubaker’s first major league appearance since 2022, due to a mixture of injuries.
Brubaker allowed a single from his first batter, as Gary Sánchez hit a straight shot to center field. Still, the righty reliever was able to hold on for the shutout across two innings.
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After the game, Boone said that it wasn’t a hard decision to pull Schmidt, even in the midst of a no-hitter.
“He was done,” Boone said, when asked how badly Schmidt wanted to get back on the mound. “As great as he was today, I think physically, all day, it was a little bit of a challenge for him. So I kind of knew even after the fifth, it wasn’t gonna be long.”
On offense, it didn’t take long for the Yankees to start putting runs on the board: Center fielder Trent Grisham, second in the batting order, kicked things off with a solo homer. J.C. Escarra and Ben Rice added two more solo homers in the second inning; in the fifth, with the Yankees holding a 6-0 lead, Anthony Volpe added another solo homer of his own.
Though Baltimore won on Friday, New York has a chance to lock up the series with a win over the Orioles on Sunday. As it stands, the Yankees are neck-and-neck with the Tampa Bay Rays at the top of the AL East.
