Clarke Schmidt had a chance to help pitch the Yankees back into the World Series.
Instead, the right-hander only added to their woes, unable to get out of the third inning of Game 3 at Yankee Stadium.
Schmidt was done in by a two-run blast by Freddie Freeman and four walks in just 2 ⅔ innings before he was pulled with the bases loaded.
Mark Leiter Jr. entered and got Will Smith on a comebacker to keep the score 3-0, but Schmidt’s performance was exactly what the Yankees didn’t need from the 28-year-old, who had pitched well enough in the ALDS and ALCS, but delivered his shortest start of 2024.
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Schmidt started poorly when he walked Shohei Ohtani on four pitches to lead off the game, despite Ohtani clearly being hindered by the shoulder injury he suffered sliding into second base in Game 2 on Saturday.
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 back 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 after 68 pitches.
It left the Yankees with 6 ⅓ innings to fill and in dire need of a win.