Cam Schlittler experienced a rarity five days ago when he conceded his best stuff was not consistently present.
Coming off his shortest outing of the season, Schlittler hopes to return to form Sunday afternoon when the New York Yankees host the Boston Red Sox in the finale of a rain-shortened two-game series.
Schlittler will be pitching after Saturday’s game was postponed due to rain and rescheduled as a split doubleheader on Aug. 29. He may also be pitching to Ali Sanchez or J.C. Escarra after New York put starting catcher Austin Wells on the 10-day injured list with cervical headaches.
Schlittler (7-3, 1.89 ERA) is pitching for the first time since allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits in 4 1/3 innings during Tuesday’s 9-4 home loss to the Cleveland Guardians. It was the fourth time in 27 career starts Schlittler did not complete five innings and seventh time the right-hander allowed more than two runs.
“I’m not afraid to admit that I was probably out there thinking about some stuff with the four-seam (fastball),” Schlittler said. “The mechanics just kind of got away from me a little bit there. I wasn’t going out there competing. I was just trying to get guys out.”
Schlittler pitched with slightly reduced velocity as according to Baseball Savant, his fastball averaged 96.8 mph — or 1 mph slower than his first 13 starts.
Before Tuesday, Schlittler was 5-1 with a 1.07 ERA in his previous eight starts. One of those outings occurred April 23 at Boston when he allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits in eight innings in New York’s 4-2 win.
Besides his strong start in his home state earlier this season, Schlittler also faced the Red Sox in Game 3 of the American League wild-card series when he struck out 12 in eight innings in a 4-0 victory.
The Red Sox are 10-3 in their past 13 road games and 6-1 in their past seven regular-season visits to the Bronx. Boston opened the series with a 5-3 victory when Willson Contreras hit a two-run homer, drove in three runs and extended his on-base streak to 17 games that has seen him bat .417 (25-for-60).
Contreras has homered in consecutive games for the second time this season. His homer also marked the 10th time this season the Red Sox hit multiple homers and first time since hitting three against Atlanta on May 26.
“They’re coming more frequently and a lot of them seem to be like big variety home runs,” said Boston interim manager Chad Tracy, whose team has hit an MLB-worst 48 homers. “We know that like one swing, those are the big swings that are game-changers when they happen.”
Ranger Suarez (2-3, 3.38), who is 0-1 with a 3.80 ERA in his past five starts, pitches for Boston after being originally slated to start Saturday. The left-hander allowed four runs on eight hits in five innings during a no-decision at Cleveland last Sunday when he also notched 10 strikeouts in a 93-pitch outing.
Suarez yielded four runs on five hits over 4 2/3 innings and took a 4-1 loss against the Yankees on April 22 in Boston. He is 1-2 with a 4.38 ERA in four career appearances (two starts) against New York.
–Field Level Media
