NEW YORK – The situation begged for a right-handed pinch-hitter to face a lefty in the seventh inning on Wednesday. With Paul Goldschmidt on the lineup card, the Yankees had one of the Majors’ best choices for that situation.
Yet there was no movement in the dugout, prompting head-scratching when the left-handed Austin Wells took the at-bat against Kody Funderburk instead. There was a good reason: Goldschmidt was unavailable due to a low-grade right knee sprain, the Yanks revealed after their 4-1 loss to the Twins at Yankee Stadium.
“I don’t think it’s anything long-term, so I think that’s good,” Goldschmidt said. “That’s the really positive thing — if it is a short-term thing, I feel really good about that.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Goldschmidt will be evaluated after Thursday’s off-day and did not rule out a stint on the injured list. The 37-year-old said he remains hopeful to appear in a three-game series that begins on Friday in St. Louis, where Goldschmidt starred from 2019-24.
Goldschmidt said he sustained the injury while catching Byron Buxton’s third-inning foul popup in front of the Yankees’ dugout on Tuesday, slipping on the dirt. He grimaced while running out a seventh-inning double, then exited soon after.
“I kind of over-ran it and dove back, and hit my knee on the ground,” Goldschmidt said. “I felt that it was sore [Tuesday], but obviously I was able to play through it. As I was going back to my position, I was like, ‘That kind of hurt.’ Stuff like that happens.”
It has been a solid bounce-back year for Goldschmidt, who is batting .276/.331/.422 (107 OPS+) with 10 homers and 40 RBIs in 112 games. He cooled after a hot start, and his splits are drastic: Goldschmidt has a 1.192 OPS vs. lefties, and just .584 vs. righties.
“He’s been a huge part of this team,” said Cody Bellinger. “He’s a vacuum over there at first base as well. I really appreciate what he does on the defensive side. For me, it’s the quality ABs; he’s a true professional in every single at-bat.”
Wells struck out looking in that seventh-inning at-bat, leaving a runner on as the Yanks trailed by three – damage done in part by Kody Clemens’ go-ahead two-run double off Yerry De los Santos in the sixth. That score remained unchanged by the end of a contest delayed nearly two hours by rain.
New York managed just four hits and two walks against Joe Ryan, who allowed only Bellinger’s third-inning homer over 6 2/3 innings, striking out seven.
“He definitely settled in,” said Bellinger, whose second-deck blast to right field was his 22nd homer of the season. “He was locating really well today. It’s such a unique arm. He mixed really well. Ultimately, he did a really good job.”
The Yanks took two of three in the series from the Twins, with Wednesday’s loss snapping a nine-game win streak against Minnesota. They are 125-45 against the Twins dating back to the beginning of the 2002 season (including playoffs).
With runs scarce, the evening served as another stepping stone for Cam Schlittler. Making his sixth start, the rookie showcased a big-time fastball while continuing to sharpen a curveball/slider combo that he graded as a “B-plus.”
Schlittler touched 99.8 mph and averaged 98.3 mph with his four-seam fastball, which overpowered Minnesota for most of the outing.
“The fastball, it’s always good, but it plays up in the zone,” Boone said. “He’s really good down with it, just with that angle he creates, and then he can work in the secondary off that. I thought he was really good. The first three innings, he was just cruising through.”
Schlittler retired the first nine batters before allowing a fourth-inning run, navigating around two walks and a double, prompting Boone to say he felt Schlittler “really had to grind through the fourth and fifth.” A 10-pitch battle with Royce Lewis in the fifth pushed Schlittler’s pitch count toward 86, ending his night.
“I felt good, but I’m a rookie,” Schlittler said. “You’ve got to earn that. It’s going to take time and consistency. No issues with that decision. I trust the bullpen. … As a rookie, you’ve got to earn that to get to 100, 105 pitches like Max [Fried] and Carlos [Rodón].”
