There have been games in which the Yankees could not convert opportunities.
There have been games in which the big hit has not arrived.
There have been games in which too many crushed batted balls found gloves.
This was not one of those games.
Wednesday presented what has become a rarity for the best-scoring offense in the American League: a dud.
The Yankees offense got nothing going in a five-hit shutout — just the second time this season they have not crossed home plate — falling 4-0 at the hands of the Guardians in front of 36,759 mostly bored fans in The Bronx.
After dropping just their third contest in the past 10, the Yankees (37-23) will look to take the rubber game of the series Thursday night behind Max Fried.
Even a perfect Clarke Schmidt would not have been a winner, and Schmidt was not perfect in allowing three runs in the first.
He bounced back and got through 5 ²/₃ innings without allowing another run, but the Yankees offense could not make his resilience matter.
Clarke Schmidt looks down at the mound after giving up a two-run homer to Angel Martinez in the first inning of the Yankees’ 4-0 loss to the Guardians on June 4, 2025.
The Yankees finally mounted a threat in the ninth against Emmanuel Clase, Ben Rice reaching on an infield single and Cody Bellinger lofting a ground-rule double down the left field line.
But Paul Goldschmidt and Jazz Chisholm Jr. struck out to end it.
Before the ninth, the Yankees only had tallied one at-bat with a runner in scoring position, ground into three double plays and generally looked overmatched by Cleveland starter Luis Ortiz and three Cleveland relievers.
Aaron Judge reacts after striking out with two men on in the third inning of the Yankees’ loss to the Guardians.
Their best threat arrived in the third inning, when they put together a two-out rally.
After Trent Grisham walked, Rice (the uncommon Yankee who stung the ball on a few occasions) singled to right, bringing up the potential tying run in Aaron Judge.
But the Yankees captain, who finished 2-for-4, swung through Ortiz’s heat twice before freezing on a slider for the strikeout.
Luis Ortiz and three Guardians relievers shut out the Yankees.
Ortiz (5 ²/₃ scoreless innings with seven strikeouts) only allowed one hit the rest of the way, a harmless two-out single from Judge in the sixth.
Lefty Tim Herrin entered and induced a hard-hit ground ball from Bellinger, who watched second baseman Daniel Schneemann make a great diving stop before Bellinger lost a foot race with Kyle Manzardo to first base.
Of the seven batted balls struck the hardest in the game, six belonged to Cleveland batters.
Clarke Schmidt looks up to the sky after being taken out of the game by Aaron Boone in the sixth inning of the Yankees’ loss to the Guardians.
Among those Guardians scorchers was an eighth-inning solo homer from Manzardo, who rudely greeted Fernando Cruz in his first appearance off the injured list.
The Yankees were placed in a ditch minutes into the game and never crawled out.
After seven Schmidt pitches — the seventh a home run Angel Martinez blasted to right — they trailed by two.
A dejected Austin Wells walks back to the dugout after striking out in the fifth inning of the Yankees’ loss to the Guardians.
José Ramírez, who seems to love playing in The Bronx, followed with a double and came around to score on a Schneemann double.
