Clarke Schmidt believed he unintentionally signaled his pitch to Seattle’s Dylan Moore, who gave the Mariners the lead with a two-run homer in the third inning of a 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees on Tuesday night.
Josh Rojas had doubled with one out to become the Mariners’ first runner, and Schmidt said after the game that Rojas had relayed 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 said.
He threw a 93.1 mph pitch over the black on the outside of the plate. Moore hit it 386 feet into the left-field seats for a 2-0 lead.
“I was able to get the head out and hit it hard,” said Moore, who added an opposite-field solo homer to right in the ninth against Nick Burdi.
Schmidt said Rojas “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.”
Schmidt (5-2), who had won his previous three starts, allowed five hits in five innings. He has a 2.59 ERA. A 28-year-old right-hander, Schmidt was 9-9 with a 4.64 ERA last year in his first season as a fulltime member of the Yankees rotation.
“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 said. “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. 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.”
