Cam Schlittler serves up four homers in meltdown

Schlittler’s own error on a sac bunt led to the two unearned runs in the fifth. He also helped mess up a sac bunt that led to the earned run in the sixth; Gerardo Perdomo’s attempt turned into a soft liner to the third base side of the mound, but Schlittler wasn’t in position to field it and got a little in Ryan McMahon’s way when McMahon went to grab it. That one went as an infield single. In the end, Schlittler’s ERA went down to 1.94. Still, it won’t rank among the Cy Young favorite’s better outings. He’ll face the Orioles in his final start of the regular season. One imagines it will be a shorter-than-usual outing.

Schlittler was in the leg by a comebacker on the final play of the sixth, but he expects to be fine in a couple of days. Schlittler was incredible yet again on Sunday, holding the Mets scoreless over six innings. He allowed just one hit and scattered two walks while tossing 60 of 94 pitches for strikes and collecting eight strikeouts. The 25-year-old right-hander will look to continue his Cy Young bid when he takes a 1.95 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, and a 228/44 K/BB ratio across 184 2/3 innings into a start against the Diamondbacks in Arizona on Saturday.

Schlittler gave up three hits, walked none and struck out 10. He improved to 13-6 with the win. The Rockies were no match for Schlittler on Tuesday as he knocked them down like bowling pins. He’s allowed five runs over his last six starts and his ERA is 2.01. Schlittler is lined up to face the Mets at home on Sunday.

This was quite the delight for those who like pitchers’ duels. Both Schlittler and Reid Detmers allowed one run tonight, though Schlitter went one more inning. Both threw 99 pitches, with Schlittler’s producing 71 strikes and Detmers getting 76. Combined, they had a 17/0 K/BB. Schlittler allowed eight hard-hit balls, but only Vaughn Grissom’s homer in the seventh did any damage. His ERA is back down to 2.04 after a five-start run in which he’s allowed a total of four runs. He’ll have a good chance to keep it going at home against the Rockies next week.

Schlittler continues to do his part to keep runs off the board despite his struggles at times with his command. The righty would walk five batters in this one, which tied a season high, but also limited the Red Sox to just two hits over 5 2/3 innings of work. Schlittler was pulled in the sixth inning after allowing a two-out walk to Caleb Durbin. Schlittler was dominant throughout the month of August, allowing just seven earned runs over 26 innings while firing 36 strikeouts. Schlittler’s next start is scheduled for Wednesday on the road against the Angels.

It wasn’t the most dominant performance for Schlittler, but he did what he needed to keep the Jays off the board for 4 1/3 scoreless innings before an RBI single by Alejandro Kirk gave the Jays their first run of the night. Schlittler struggled at times with his command, walking three batters in this one while throwing 61.5 percent of his pitches for strikes. Schlittler has allowed one earned run in each of his last three starts and will look to pick up his 12th win in his next start on Thursday at home against the Astros.

Schlittler tossed two scoreless innings before giving up a run on a walk and two hits in the third. He then settled in to pitch into the sixth without allowing another run. Schlittler would depart with one out in the sixth inning having allowed just the one run while striking out seven. The 25-year-old right-hander will take a 2.19 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and a 189/34 K/BB ratio across 152 innings into a start against the Blue Jays in New York on Friday.

Schlittler allowed three hits and didn’t walk anyone. Unfortunately, one of those hits was a go-ahead solo homer by Matt Olson on a 100-mph fastball in the seventh inning. The Yankees tied the game an inning later before losing in extras. Schlittler wasn’t to blame, though, as he pitched well enough to win. He issued five free passes in his first August start but has a 39:1 K/BB in his other second-half starts. He’ll continue his Cy Young push next time out, in Toronto against the Blue Jays.

It was Schlittler’s shortest start of the season. In fact, two of the right-hander’s four shortest outings of the season have been in his last four starts. He may be tiring a little bit since he’s on track to easily outpace his career high in innings, but it’s far more likely that he just had an off day. His velocity looked good, but he threw just 61 percent of his pitches for strikes, far below his season average. We’d expect him to bounce back this weekend against the Braves.

Schlittler was utterly dominant over the first six innings of this start. To that point, he had faced just one batter over the minimum and thrown only 77 pitches. It looked as if he’d easily cruise through seven or even eight innings if things broke right. Then, Munetaka Murakami fought hard for a seven-pitch walk to start the seventh and Schlittler plunked Miguel Vargas on the very next pitch. Andrew Benintendi hit a run-scoring double two batters later that chased Schlittler from the game and set the table for a huge comeback win by the White Sox. Nevertheless, he forced 18 swings-and-misses in yet another fantastic start. Rather than deploying his usual fastball-forward repertoire, Schlittler threw a season-high 20% curveballs. It was up to 88 mph – three ticks higher than its season average – and forced seven whiffs on eight swings. It’s just another potentially lethal wrinkle Schlittler can add to his game on the way to the American League Cy Young award. He’s scheduled for a two-start week coming up against the Cardinals and Braves.