Tampa Bay Rays radio broadcaster Neil Solondz took a shot at New York Yankees starter Cy Young frontrunner Cam Schlittler after the right-hander took a shot at Rays fans before the ALDS. Schlittler and the Rays are familiar with each other, as they play in the same division, and Schlittler made clear he didn't expect a hostile environment heading into the Best-of-5 series against the Rays. "I wouldn't say there's really too much of an away crowd here," Schlittler said.
"I expect there to be a lot of Yankees fans. So in some ways, you are, to an extent, playing at home." The right-hander got the ball for Game 2, but didn't have the best performance — though his team didn't help him out much. The Yankees had just four hits, recording four errors as well.
Schlittler threw just 4.1 innings, allowing six hits and four runs — two of which he earned. Additionally, he only logged two strikeouts. As he left the game, Solondz snuck a witty comment onto the broadcast.
"I'm guessing this crowd is a little bit more pro-Ray than he expected," Solondz said. The Rays went on to win the game, 5-2, to take a 2-0 ALDS lead into Yankee Stadium for Game 3 on Wednesday. Despite his rough outing against the Rays, Schlittler doesn't usually have as much trouble as he did Monday.
He had a great regular season, posting an AL-leading 1.95 ERA over the course of 33 starts while striking out 239 batters — the second most in the AL. He appeared three times against the Rays during the regular season, posting a 2.81 ERA while striking out 21 batters in 16 innings pitched. In his first start of the postseason, Schlittler proved his quality with 6.1 shutout innings and 10 strikeouts against the Boston Red Sox.
The series is now out of his hands, though, as his team will have to come through and win a game or two if he is to appear once again in the series. The Yankees' next opportunity to enter the win column in the ALDS comes Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.
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