About Last Night: Big Reds Win! Yankees 5, Reds 0
- Tim Kabel
- Jun 20
- 3 min read
About Last Night: Big Reds Win. Yankees 5 – Reds 0
By Tim Kabel
June 20, 2026
***
The Yankees continue to roll through the opposition like General Sherman marching to the sea. Fortunately, they are not leaving burned-out chimneys in their wake (These were known as Sherman’s Sentinels, by the way). The Yankees are 8-2 in their last 10 games. They stand at 46-28, 18 games over .500. They lead the Tampa Bay Rays by three games in the American League East and have the best record in the American League. Only the Braves and the Dodgers have better records than the Yankees.
As usual, Cam Schlittler was dominant, improving his record to 8-3. He pitched 6 shutout innings, allowing 4 hits, 0 walks, and 13 strikeouts. I will get back to that later. Jake Bird, Brent Headrick, (of course), and David Bednar combined for three hitless, scoreless innings of relief to finish out the game. By the way, I think it has been declared against the law for the Yankees to play more than two games in a row without Brent Headrick pitching. He's becoming like Alfred Hitchcock; he appears in almost every game. You just have to be looking to see when he shows up.
Jazz Chisholm, who left Thursdays game early due to a painful situation might do well to heed the advice of an altered line from Annie, “you're never fully dressed without a cup.” Jazz was back in the lineup last night and hit a solo home run in the third inning. Ben Rice added a three-run home run in that same inning. The Yankees never looked back. They added another run in the eighth inning on an RBI single from Anthony Volpe. Rice, Jasson Dominguez, and Volpe all had two hits.
It was a dominant performance from beginning to end. As I often state, the Yankees need to make hay while the sun shines. This is particularly true while they are missing Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Max Fried. By racking up as many wins as possible now, they will make things easier later.
Despite the Yankees strong current showing, it is highly likely that they will have a Boone- Swoon at some point. Therefore, it is essential that they build up enough of a buffer to sustain it when it does occur. The fact that they are doing so well in Judge’s absence is particularly encouraging.
Since I will be doing the recaps of all three games this weekend, I will be following the Reds more closely than anyone since Joseph McCarthy.
A Few Tidbits:
· The Yankees are 10-5 since losing Aaron Judge to a fractured rib. Only Adam did better after a rib injury.
· Ben Rice is batting .294 with 21 home runs and 52 RBI. He hit 26 home runs in a full season last year.
· Cam Schlittler struck out 13, which is a career-high for his first double-digit strikeout game in the regular season.
· Cam Schlittler became the youngest Yankees pitcher with 13 strikeouts in a game since Al Downing who did it against the Chicago White Sox on June 21st, 1964. Schlittler also became the youngest Yankees pitcher to strike out 13 without issuing a walk.
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· Schlittler has a 1.71 ERA which is the lowest for a Yankees pitcher through 16 starts in a season since Whitey Ford was at 1.47 in 1964.
· Cincinnati lost for the 11th time in 16 games since Elly De La Cruz went on the IL with a strained right hamstring. Compare that with how the Yankees are playing in Judge’s absence. That’s Baseball, Suzyn.
· On June 19th, 1903, Lou Gehrig was born. My friend Roger gave him a stuffed animal as a gift.
· On June 19th, 1950, Joe DiMaggio collected his 2,000th career hit.
· On June 19th, 1955, Mickey Mantle hit his 100th career home run.
***
Today, the Yankees will play the second game of the three-game series against the Reds at 1:35 PM at Yankee Stadium. Will Warren, (7-1, 3.47 ERA) will face Andrew Abbott, (4-4, 3.95 ERA). Hey, Abbott, who’s on first? Hopefully, all the Yankees at some point.
Wasn't it great when Joe McCarthy led the way to crushing the Reds?
In the 1939 World Series. Yanks swept Cincinnati in four games. What did you think I was talking about?
Despite the Yankees strong current showing, it is highly likely that they will have a Boone- Swoon at some point.
ah yes, the time when the schedule is thorny and when the team plays .500 ball.
that stuff does happen.
the schedule for July appears to be a bit more challenging than June.
however, I wonder whether a better rotation and bench might make the challenges less daunting, less disheartening for the fans.
perhaps the valley floor wont be all gloom and shadow.
Don't look now, but Dominguez is showing he can hit MLB LHPs.
Volpe is saying: I know GLJ is eventually coming to claim the SS job, but I'm healthy now, and that job needs to be mine for now!
Ben Rice hasn't tanked with Judge out.
Jones is showing he isn't a total strikeout machine... Yes his Ks are high, but he does take pitches. And boy, can he really play CF and make it look easy.
Cam last night, Will Warren today.. my only question, where are the Baby Bombers in the pen? (I know Lagrange is coming, but still...)
I didn't leave out Austin Wells... Played physically compromised lsast year, obviously played compromised this year again... I know…