Before Clarke Schmidt faced the Dodgers on Monday, the last Yankee pitcher to take the mound with his team facing a 2-0 series deficit in the World Series was David Cone in 1996.
Cone had this to say about dealing with the situation prior to the game: “My mindset was just to avoid the big inning early and give us a chance to get a lead. Normal thoughts you have every game, but you realize every pitch is much more magnified. How you handle that kind of pressure is something you have to experience to appreciate. Once you get out there, you understand what it’s all about.”
Cone allowed just one run over six innings on that October night against Atlanta after the Yankees had taken an early lead.
That victory was the first of four straight that sent the Yankees to a title.
Schmidt had a much different result in a crippling 4-2 loss at the Stadium that sent the Yankees to the brink of their season ending.
Schmidt walked Shohei Ohtani on four pitches to start the game and then gave up a two-run homer to Freddie Freeman with one out.
He was unable to get out of the third inning against Los Angeles, done in also by four walks in just 2 ²/₃ innings before he was pulled with the bases loaded.
And Schmidt’s night could have been worse, as Mark Leiter Jr. entered and got Will Smith on a come-backer to keep the score 3-0.
“Obviously, I didn’t do my job tonight,” Schmidt said.
Unlike Cone, who’d already established himself as a postseason winner, Schmidt was starting just his third postseason game after a pair of solid, if unspectacular, outings in the ALDS against the Royals and the ALCS versus Cleveland.
Schmidt started poorly when he walked Ohtani despite the slugger clearly being hindered by the shoulder injury he suffered sliding into second base in Game 2 on Saturday.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Yankees in the postseason:
- Yankees’ season ends in heartbreak as they choke away Game 5 of World Series
- Aaron Judge’s crucial mistake erased breakout World Series moment
- Yankees’ Austin Wells hit with catcher’s interference call in brutal World Series moment
- Juan Soto’s season ends with million-dollar questions with Yankees future now murky
After getting Mookie Betts to fly to left, Schmidt gave up a two-run shot to right to Freeman, who has homered in all three games in this series — and each of his last five World Series games, dating to his days with Atlanta.
Schmidt recovered to retire the next five batters before a leadoff walk to No. 9 hitter Tommy Edman in the third.
Ohtani grounded out to send Edman to second and Betts flared a single to right to score Edman and make it 3-0.
A walk to Freeman followed and Schmidt appeared ready to survive the inning when he got Teoscar Hernandez to pop to short, but a walk to Max Muncy ended his night with the Yankee bullpen needing to fill the remaining 6 ¹/₃ innings and in dire need of a win.
Schmidt said he couldn’t fix some mechanical issues in the third before getting removed.
“Managing your emotions is such a big part of it and that can’t be measured,’’ Cone said of the challenge of pitching in that spot. “On the mound, can you control your body when your heart rate is elevated? He’s a very confident pitcher coming off a really good year and he’s healthy. So he should be able to execute his pitches.”
He didn’t, as Schmidt needed 68 pitches to get just eight outs.
Cone noted Schmidt’s confidence, saying, “There’s a reason why he was a first-round pick by the Yankees. He was a Friday night pitcher and he’s been in big spots, but there’s nothing like a World Series. He’s as ready as he can be. Now it’s up to him.”
