Cam Schlittler boosts All-Star starting case with career-best 13 strikeouts in Yankees win
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Next month, it may be the National League All-Stars that Cam Schlittler is starting against.The Yankees’ budding ace turned in a downright dominant outing on Friday, striking out a career-high 13 across six scoreless innings on the way to a 5-0 win over the Reds in The Bronx.Lowering his ERA to 1.71 through 16 starts, Schlittler added another highlight on his crowded résumé to start the All-Star Game for the American League.His biggest opponent Friday was his pitch count, as he needed 96 pitches to get through the sixth, or else he might have kept going.The Reds (35-39), who entered the night with the second-highest strikeout rate (24.5 percent) of any team, fell right into Schlittler’s hands as he became the first Yankee to record 13 strikeouts since Max Fried last September.
The right-hander scattered just four hits (one of them a dropped fly ball by Jasson Domínguez in right field) while walking none.In the process, the 25-year-old Schlittler became the youngest pitcher in Yankees history to record 13 strikeouts and no walks in a game, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.“Schlitty is the Cy Young winner hands down,” freshly crowned NBA champion, Knicks star and known Yankees fan Josh Hart posted on X.Jazz Chisholm Jr.led off the second inning with a home run and Ben Rice capped it off with a three-run shot, providing all the run support Schlittler needed as the Yankees (46-28) won for the 10th time in their last 13 games.Entering Friday, Schlittler’s regular-season career high was nine strikeouts.
He surpassed that on a punchout of Eugenio Suárez on a 99 mph sinker to end the fourth inning, when he struck out the side.His overall career-high was the 12 strikeouts he had in the AL wild-card series against his hometown Red Sox last October.But he beat that mark by the fifth ...