Cam Schlittler cares more about Yankees winning AL East despite recording 200th strikeout vs. Red Sox

The New York Yankees are playing a key series this weekend against their bitter division rival, the Boston Red Sox. New York started things out with a gritty 1-0 victory over Boston Friday. The Yankees got a great start out of Cam Schlittler, who now has 200 strikeouts on the campaign.

The young ace is happy about that, but he wants something more. Schlittler wants New York to win the American League East this season.

“I think,” Schlittler said, per MLB.com, “the division is wide open.”

New York has been in second in the AL East for quite some time. The Yankees trail the Tampa Bay Rays, who are trying to hold off the Red Sox and Bronx Bombers for the remainder of the campaign.

“If we separate ourselves from Boston this weekend, we’ve got a really big [four-game] series against Tampa down the road,” Schlittler said. “So it’s wide open.”

New York is now 76-58 on the campaign.

Cam Schlittler threw a gem against the Red Sox on Friday

Schlittler was dominant on the mound Friday. He held off the Red Sox lineup, throwing eight strikeouts in the contest. The Yankees ace pitched five-plus innings and allowed just two hits.

“It’s just a testament to how good he’s gotten and continued to improve exponentially since we signed him,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Rifling through the Minor Leagues, I just feel like over the last two years, he’s just steadily gotten better and better. He has a really good grip on his arsenal, and he’s obviously pitching like one of the great pitchers in the league.”

Schlittler is in great company after his latest performance.

“The 25-year-old Schlittler struck out eight as he became the fourth-youngest Yankee to record a 200-strikeout season, behind Al Downing (23 in 1964), Luis Severino (23 in 2017) and Bob Turley (24 in 1955),” MLB.com reported.

New York is in action against Boston again on Saturday. The Yankees are four games behind Tampa.

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