The New York Yankees sent their best arm to the mound for ALDS Game 2 at Tropicana Field — Cam Schlittler, who went 14-6 with a 1.95 ERA during the regular season — and somehow walked out of the first inning with three errors, an unearned run, and the dubious distinction of tying a postseason record that hadn’t been matched since the 1975 Oakland A’s. All of it happened before Tampa Bay had even sent four batters to the plate.
Three Errors, Three Different Culprits
The sequence unfolded so fast it was hard to believe. First, Ryan McMahon botched a grounder from Yandy Díaz — E5, the most routine play of the three. Then George Lombard Jr. fielded a roller from Junior Caminero and fired to second for the force out — the right call — but Jazz Chisholm Jr. threw late to first, and Díaz scored all the way from first base. E4. The third error came when it looked like Schlittler might escape: Austin Wells was called for catcher’s interference against Liam Hicks. E2.
Three errors. Three different players. Four batters.
That matched the postseason record for most errors in a single first inning. The last time it happened was in Game 1 of the 1975 ALCS, when the Oakland A’s imploded against the Boston Red Sox in exactly the same fashion. Rare doesn’t mean unprecedented — but it stings just the same.
Schlittler Wasn’t to Blame — Which Makes It Worse
Schlittler threw 19 pitches in that first inning, 17 of them for strikes. The only run that crossed the plate was unearned — a direct product of the defensive chaos. The other two runs he eventually allowed were unearned as well. He was pulled after 4⅓ innings with three runs charged against him, none of which he actually gave up in any meaningful sense.
The American League’s leading Cy Young candidate left ALDS Game 2 with a line that had nothing to do with how he actually pitched. That’s the cruelest part: his own defense buried him.
Lombard Jr. added a second throwing error in the fifth inning, pushing Tampa Bay’s lead to 3-1. By the final out, the Yankees had committed five errors in the game.
The Context Makes It Even Harder to Swallow
New York was already down 1-0 in the series. In Game 1, Drew Rasmussen carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning — the only hit was a Wells double that ended with him thrown out at third trying to stretch it — and the Yankees lost 1-0 on a single hit, their worst offensive output across 447 postseason games.
Now in Game 2, the defense dismantled what the pitching was trying to build. Aaron Judge isn’t on the ALDS roster due to a calf injury. The Rays finished the regular season 98-64 and went 55-26 at home in Tropicana Field.
Falling behind 2-0 in a best-of-five is, statistically, almost a death sentence. Teams that come back from that deficit in the playoffs are the exception, not the rule.
Baseball has a long memory. This first inning has already taken its place alongside the fifth inning of Game 5 of the 2024 World Series on the list of half-innings Yankees fans would rather forget.
