Cam Schlittler rebounds with eight-inning gem

Schlitter served up a solo homer to James Wood on his first pitch of the game. Two batters later, Curtis Mead took him deep for a second solo blast. Schlittler settled in nicely, giving up just two more hits and walking four as he pitched into the seventh. He struck out six. The 25-year-old right-hander will take a 2.05 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and a 137/25 K/BB ratio across 118 2/3 innings into the All-Star break.

Dylan Cease, Parker Messick, Drew Rasmussen, Joe Ryan, Ranger Suarez and Michael Wacha are the other starters on the AL team. The relievers are Bryan Baker, Aroldis Chapman, Jacob Latz, Cade Smith and Louis Varland. It’s the second nod for Rasmussen, Ryan, Suarez and Wacha and the first for all of the rest other than Chapman, who will be going for the ninth time.

Schlittler served up back-to-back homers to Kerry Carpenter and Riley Greene before coughing up a two-run blast to Spencer Torkelson later in a disastrous 36-pitch opening frame. It was the first time he allowed multiple home runs in a start this season after giving up just six total through his first 17 starts. He served up an additional long ball to Greene in the third inning as well. The second-shortest outing of his career caused his ERA to jump from 1.62 to 2.08 in the process. The 25-year-old emerging ace has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season, but this was undoubtedly a rough one. He’ll attempt to rebound during a road tilt against the division-rival Rays on Monday to kick off a two-start week.

All of the runs came in the fifth after Amed Rosario was ruled to commit an error at third, but one wonders if that will stick; Rosario should have tried better to get in front of the grounder, but it was hit 112.8 mph off the bat of Willson Contreras and grounders that hard don’t typically get called errors. Caleb Durbin later went on to hit a two-run homer in the frame. Apart from that, Schlittler was his usual self, striking out nine in the outing. It goes as his fourth loss, but his ERA dipped to 1.62, assuming that the error stands. Schlittler will face the Tigers next.

Jake Bird is being sent down. The Yankees are in the midst of a long stretch without a day off, so they wanted to give their starters some extra rest. Cole will now face the Tigers in Detroit, rather than the Reds at home. It also sets up Cam Schlittler to pitch Thursday in Boston, rather than Wednesday in Detroit.

Friday marked one of the most dominant starts in Schlittler’s young career. The righty took the Reds to task all night, striking out a career-high 13 batters without allowing a walk. Schlittler ran into a bit of trouble in the sixth inning when he found himself with runners on the corners and two outs, but he managed to get Spencer Steer to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the threat and put the cap on another impressive outing. Schlittler has allowed one earned run or fewer in each of his last three starts and saw his ERA fall to 1.71 by the time he left the mound. His next start is scheduled for Wednesday on the road against the Tigers.

Schlittler gave up six hits and walked four batters, but still managed to limit Toronto’s lineup to just a third-inning solo homer by Kazuma Okamoto. The 25-year-old emerging ace has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 14 of his 15 starts this season. He’ll carry a favorable home outing against the Reds on Friday.

It wasn’t Schlittler’s most dominant outing of the season, but he did more than enough to keep the Yankees in the game until they broke it open in the eighth. His strikeout-minus-walk percentage has ticked down since the end of April, though it’s nothing to be concerned about while his ERA remains under 2. He’s one of the top starters in fantasy baseball ahead of his next matchup on the road against the Blue Jays.

But not before the Yankees got people in the gates and sold some food. Ranger Suárez and Will Warren were scheduled to start tonight’s game. Suarez will go tomorrow, with Connelly Early following on Monday, but the Yankees have decided to push Warren back to Monday against Cleveland and keep Cam Schlittler in line to face the Red Sox on four days’ rest.

Schlittler didn’t allow more than three runs in any of his previous 12 starts, but his fastball velocity was down one mph tonight and he gave up eight hard-hit balls to go along with a season-low three strikeouts. It’s probably just a blip, but it needs to be watched. He’s slated to face the Red Sox on Sunday.