CHICAGO — For most of Wednesday night, Cam Schlittler was unhittable.
But the Yankees right-hander was left with a sour taste in his mouth after an otherwise terrific start ended poorly on the way to a brutal 6-5, 12-inning loss to the White Sox at Rate Field.
Schlittler had allowed just one baserunner — a broken-bat single in the fourth inning — entering the seventh, with the Yankees leading 4-0, before he walked Munetaka Murakami on a full count. His next pitch was a 98 mph sinker that hit Miguel Vargas on the hands, and one out later, Andrew Benintendi roped a double down the right-field line to score the White Sox’s first run and end Schlittler’s night.
“I think the walk there is frustrating,” Schlittler said of his first free pass in three starts. “Tried to go in on Vargas, hit him. So they didn’t really earn it, I just kind of gave it to them. Frustrating. But it’s how it goes sometimes.”
Schlittler, who struck out eight and unveiled a harder, biting curveball that he used to his advantage, was also left regretting a pitch selection to Benintendi, which Gerrit Cole had a conversation with him about in the dugout.
“Shook [off] a pitch to Benintendi, didn’t execute it,” Schlittler said. “Probably had more wiggle room with the pitch Wells called. That’s on me.”
In the last few years, Aaron Boone has pounded the table for the Yankees to acquire certain players, including David Bednar and Alex Verdugo, both of whom ended up on his roster.
As another trade deadline nears, the Yankees manager is making his opinion known to the front office again with a few names in mind.
“Oh yeah,” he said with a grin, of course unwilling to disclose what those names were.
But Boone is keeping in touch with general manager Brian Cashman and his lieutenants, offering an occasional “thought bubble” as the Yankees try to wade through the uncertainty of which teams are selling and which players are actually available ahead of Monday’s deadline.
“At the end of the day, the front office has been working hard at this for certainly weeks, but it’s even years in the making where you’re evaluating other organizations, evaluating your own organization so you’re prepared to move when something potentially comes up,” Boone said. “They’re all down there [in Tampa] ready to do their thing and if something presents itself, then you strike.”
The daily Giancarlo Stanton non-update: He continues to run, according to Boone, but still not on the bases.
“He just needs to get to a level intensity-wise with the running,” Boone said. “You don’t need to keep asking. He’s running. When it gets really close, close to being in a game or something, we’ll let you know. It’s not there yet.”
Carlos Rodón was set to throw about 30 pitches across two simulated innings Wednesday at Double-A Somerset as he builds toward a rehab assignment and potentially rejoining the Yankees in mid- to late August.
The Yankees announced the Old-Timers’ Day roster for the annual game on Aug. 8.
The first-timers scheduled to attend are Dellin Betances, Todd Frazier, Adam Ottavino and David Weathers.
Notably absent were Derek Jeter, who only attended the event in 2023 when a game was not played (he has said he will not play in it), and Brett Gardner, who has not been around the organization at all since he played his last game for it in 2021.
