Yankees Cam Schlittler flashes resilience in ace-like effort to end first half

WASHINGTON — Cam Schlittler has made himself the AL Cy Young favorite in the first half by leaning heavily on three different kinds of fastballs.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.

The Nationals, his final test before the All-Star break, have been one of the majors’ best fastball-hitting teams.That made for an intriguing matchup Saturday afternoon, which started poorly for Schlittler when he gave up a pair of solo home runs in the first inning before pitching into the seventh as the Yankees came back to beat the Nationals 4-2 for their third straight win.In an ace-like effort, Schlittler rebounded from the early ambushes by not giving up a run the rest of the way, putting the finishing touches on a terrific first half (2.05 ERA) that should earn him the start for the American League in Tuesday’s All-Star Game.“Good pitchers are going to battle through that or you’re going to crumble,” Schlittler said.“I feel like I crumbled a little bit against Detroit [two starts ago when he gave up four home runs].

I feel like I can take today as a win in terms of making those adjustments and getting deeper into the game than I probably should’ve been.”Schlittler did not have his best command either, tying a season high with four walks while striking out six.But he settled into a groove as he got deeper into the game and finished with 6 ²/₃ innings — helping out his bullpen and keeping the Yankees within striking distance so they could come back to win it.“Just a bunch of resilience, making pitches, competing,” said Trent Grisham, who delivered the go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth.Up next could be a start in the All-Star Game, on what would essentially be Schlittler’s between-starts bullpen day.Aaron Boone said before the game that there was a “good chance” Schlittler would be able to throw in the game, and while the right-hander said he...