Clarke Schmidt dazzles in return to help Yankees shut out Cubs with rotation decisions looming

CHICAGO — That rotation decision is not getting any easier for the Yankees, in a good way.

For the second straight day, a starter returned from the injured list to turn in a scoreless outing.

And the starter who was squeezed out of the rotation for them, at least for one time through, was even better in relief.

After Luis Gil tossed six innings on Friday, Clarke Schmidt picked up where he left off and delivered 4 ²/₃ shutout innings on a pitch count to help send the Yankees to a 2-0 win over the Cubs on Saturday afternoon at a crisp Wrigley Field.

Nestor Cortes, who admitted he was “upset” about being moved to the bullpen (even if it is temporary), piggybacked Schmidt and pitched a dominant 4 ¹/₃ innings to finish off the game as the Yankees recorded their second straight shutout win.

“Early in the season, we had two or three months where we were probably the best rotation in baseball, numbers-wise,” Schmidt said of the rotation that had an MLB-low 2.77 ERA through June 14. “I wouldn’t say that’s out of the realm now. Obviously we have a lot of talented guys on this staff, whoever it is. We have a lot of depth, which is really good, and we also have guys at the high end who are at the best of their game. So really exciting for this staff.”

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The Yankees (82-60) clinched the series victory after dropping their last three and will have a chance to sweep the Cubs (72-70) on Sunday with Gerrit Cole on the mound.

By the end of Saturday night, they also moved back into first place in the AL East, a half-game ahead of the Orioles.

Schmidt, making his first start since May 26 (he was diagnosed with a strained lat a few days later), scattered four hits and one walk while striking out a pair across 75 pitches.

He had made three rehab starts but did not build his pitch count all the way back, which is why the Yankees picked Saturday as the day to have Cortes pitch in relief.

At the time he landed on the injured list, Schmidt had pitched to a 2.82 ERA across his first 11 starts of the season.

If the Yankees are getting that pitcher back, it will give them another strong option to start playoff games down the stretch and potentially in October.

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“He’s in a really good spot physically, stuff is excellent,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He just had a little bit of everything going. He has the stuff to cut you up.”

After Austin Wells threw out a runner at second for the second straight inning in the fifth, Patrick Wisdom hit a fly ball down the right-field line that turned into a wind-aided triple, knocking Schmidt out of the game.

Boone then called on Cortes, who stranded Wisdom at third and went on to retire 13 of the 14 batters he faced, allowing just one walk in a sharp relief outing.

“He handled it really well,” Wells said. “Proud of him for that.”

At some point in the next week, the Yankees will have to make a decision about who gets dropped from the rotation.

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Cortes is expected to start against the Red Sox later this week as the Yankees use a six-man rotation one time through, but that will be trimmed down to five by the following week, with the odd man out expected to move to the bullpen.

Schmidt, like Cortes, has big league experience as a reliever, but looked sharp in his starting role on Saturday.

“I felt great,” Schmidt said. “Obviously I’m fighting to get more pitches there, trying to get through the fifth. But when we got to that point, I felt like I still had a lot of strength and I wasn’t fatiguing at all.”

The Yankees gave Schmidt a lead to work with before he even stepped foot on the mound, as Wells drove in Gleyber Torres on a groundout in the top of the first.

Then they gave Cortes some extra breathing room with two outs in the sixth.

Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. pulled off a double steal on Drew Smyly’s first pitch to Anthony Rizzo, and Christian Bethancourt’s throw to third base went into left field, allowing Judge to trot the final 90 feet to make it 2-0.

A well-executed piggyback ensured that lead stood up.

“We’re moving the needle to be a little bit better as a complete staff,” Boone said. “Even though we’re towards the end [of the regular season], we got a long way to go and we gotta continue to show up and make sure we’re executing every day. But when we do that, we’re able to have games like this on the mound.”

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