When Clarke Schmidt checked to see who he’d pitch against after getting scratched from his start Saturday and bumped to Tuesday, he first saw a TBD next to the Padres.
But then Michael King, who climbed the minors at the same time before they filled roles on the Yankees pitching staff, texted him.
“You just wanted to face me,” Schmidt recalled King writing, so he responded, “I guess I got to lock in a little bit more now.”
For six innings Tuesday, the pair dueled. King allowed just two runs while pitching in The Bronx for the first time since the Yankees shipped the converted reliever to San Diego two winters ago for — essentially — one year of Juan Soto.
Schmidt, the arm the Yankees have held onto, surrendered a pair of runs, too, after his start was delayed out of precaution due to side soreness.
Until the Padres bullpen imploded in the Yankees’ 12-3 win, King was positioned to earn a win, but Schmidt earned the final bragging rights on a night when both settled for no-decisions.
“There’ll be a little bit of chirping,” Schmidt said. “I’m sure we’ll text each other after this. How can you not talk a little s–t?”
Even before the emotions of making his first start back at Yankee Stadium kicked in, King knew his biggest challenge. Aaron Judge, he said Monday, is — and always will be — “insane.” He induced a fly out from Judge on a 3-0 count in the first inning, but three frames later, King left a 2-2 fastball down the middle to “the best hitter in baseball,” he said.
“I’m not expecting to get that one back,” King added of the solo homer.
King felt like he had “nothing” working beyond his sweeper. His mechanics were off. But after Ben Rice doubled in the first inning, King went nine consecutive batters without allowing a hit.
Then, Judge’s homer, which barely cleared the fence in right, started to shift the tenor of his outing. King walked Cody Bellinger, and when Jasson Domínguez’s single paired with a throwing error, it allowed Bellinger to score from first and tie the game. He didn’t allow another hit, though, and provided San Diego length against a Yankees group desperately needing that from its own staff.
“I was thinking there was gonna be a chance I started walking to the other dugout,” King, whose ERA now sits at 2.22, said, “but I didn’t do that. So that was a win. But I mean, it’s fun. It’s always a fun stadium to play in.”
The last time King pitched at Yankee Stadium, he flashed the transition’s potential with seven dazzling innings during a September 2023 outing against the Blue Jays. That stretch provided evidence that his shift could work after all. And 20 months later, against one of his friends and former teammates, King showcased the finished product.
“Hopefully somewhere down the line we can reunite,” Schmidt said. “… It’s kinda like playing one of your brothers in the backyard.”
