Yankees, Clarke Schmidt rocked by Guardians in series-opening loss

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Apr 21, 2025

Published in Baseball

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The second half of the New York Yankees’ road trip got off to a poor start on Monday night, as they lost their series-opener against the Cleveland Guardians, 6-4.

Trouble first found the Yankees and Clarke Schmidt in the third, as two inning-opening singles preceded a three-run homer from José Ramírez. Schmidt threw a sweeper just below the zone, but the switch-hitting Ramírez pulled the pitch to right-field anyway.

The left-handed Kyle Manzardo then did the same, giving the Guardians back-to-back homers as Schmidt completely missed an outside target. Manzardo also took Schmidt deep in Game 3 of last year’s American League Championship Series at Progressive Field.

Already in possession of a four-run lead, the Guardians tacked on another run in the fourth inning on a broken-bat RBI single from Brayan Rocchio. The knock was lined toward Jazz Chisholm Jr., but the second baseman appeared to take his eye off the ball with the splintered barrel of Rocchio’s bat flying in his general direction.

Schmidt’s evening came to an end after the fourth. The righty totaled seven strikeouts, but also seven hits, five earned runs and three walks over 80 pitches in his second start of the season.

With Schmidt out of the game, Ramírez then drilled an RBI single off Yoendrys Gomez, the first pitcher out of the Yankees’ bullpen, in the sixth inning.

While the Yankees’ starter struggled in Cleveland, the Guardians’ Gavin Williams posted zeroes until Jasson Domínguez demolished a 445-foot, two-run homer in the seventh frame.

Williams was otherwise sharp across 6 1/3 innings despite allowing seven hits and two walks, as the right-hander struck out eight over 104 pitches.

Paul Sewald, meanwhile, surrendered a two-run blast to Chisholm in the eighth. The homer, Chisholm’s seventh of the year, tied him with Aaron Judge for the team lead and put the Yankees down two, but they couldn’t complete the comeback.

The Bombers will look for better results against Tanner Bibee on Tuesday. The Guardians’ ace is off to a poor start this season, posting a 5.85 ERA over his first four outings.

Will Warren, the owner of a 5.17 ERA, will take the ball for the Yankees. He’ll try to provide more length than he did in his last start, as the rookie only lasted 1 2/3 innings against the Rays on April 17.

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