In Tuesday night’s 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees, Dylan Moore of Seattle gave the Mariners the lead for good in the third inning with a two-run home run. Clarke Schmidt believed he had tipped his delivery to Moore.
After Josh Rojas became the Mariners’ first runner by double with one out, Schmidt revealed during the game that Rojas had communicated his intention to throw a full-count cutter.
“Obviously tipping is a part of this game and it’s a factor and it’s always in the back of our heads and something that we’re well aware of,” Schmidt stated.
Over the black on the outside of the plate, he delivered a pitch at 93.1 mph. Moore scored two runs when he drove the ball 386 feet into the left-field seats.
In the ninth inning against Nick Burdi, Moore added a single home run to right field. “I was able to get the head out and hit it hard,” he said.
Regarding Rojas, Schmidt remarked, “[He] was definitely, probably relaying some signs there at second and obviously it paid off for them.” “They got two runs on it. But I was able to make adjustments after we saw the video and just part of the game. Another factor in it.”
After winning his previous three outings, Schmidt (5-2) gave up five hits in five innings. His ERA is 2.59.
Schmidt, a 28-year-old right-hander, made his debut as a full-time member of the Yankees rotation last season, going 9-9 with a 4.64 ERA.
“Everybody has things that they do pitching that you might pattern in certain ways with the way you come set or whatever it may be,” Schmidt stated. “Maybe in the years past I had a different tip and now it’s another tip. And so it’s just constantly paying attention and making sure that you’re staying on top of small things like that. Obviously, it can be the difference in a game. But for me, it’s something that we’ve been aware of this year just through our outings, and we’ve made adjustments and we’ll continue to make adjustments.”
Schmidt received more pitches from Seattle. Over five innings, he threw one hundred pitches.
“I thought they had a really good game plan, fouling off a lot of pitches, a lot of deep counts,” Schmidt stated.
