Yankees’ Cam Schlittler sets new career high in dominant game vs. Reds

New York Yankees starter Cam Schlittler put together a masterclass on Friday night, blanking the Cincinnati Reds in a 5-0 win at Yankee Stadium.

The 25-year-old right-hander struck out a career-high 13 batters across six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and issuing no walks. He threw 96 pitches, including 66 strikes, and lowered his ERA to an American League-leading 1.71 through his first 16 starts of the season.

Schlittler’s previous regular-season best was nine strikeouts, though he recorded 12 strikeouts in Game 3 of last year’s American League Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox. Against Cincinnati, he reached double-digit strikeouts by fanning Eugenio Suarez to end the fourth inning and finished with 13 after striking out JJ Bleday in the sixth.

Schlittler became the youngest pitcher in Yankees history at 25 years and 134 days old to record at least 13 strikeouts without a walk, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs. He also became the first pitcher in franchise history to reach 13 strikeouts in a game since Max Fried accomplished the feat on Sept. 18, 2025, against the Baltimore Orioles. His 1.71 ERA is the lowest by a Yankees pitcher through 16 starts since Whitey Ford produced a 1.47 mark in 1964.

Schlittler generated 18 whiffs on 49 swings and relied heavily on his sinker, four-seam fastball and cutter. After hitting leadoff batter Blake Dunn with the game’s first pitch, he settled in and recorded multiple strikeouts in each of the first five innings.

The victory improved New York to 16 wins in the last 22 games and 10-5 since Aaron Judge suffered a fractured right rib. Schlittler improved to 8-3 on the season after entering the game winless in his previous three starts.

Offensively, Jazz Chisholm Jr. returned to the lineup and hit his 11th home run of the season, a solo shot in the second inning. Ben Rice followed with a 433-foot, three-run homer, his team-leading 21st of the year. Rice ranks third in the American League in home runs and is second in Major League Baseball with a .616 slugging percentage and a 1.005 OPS.

Anthony Volpe contributed an RBI single in the eighth inning, while Jake Bird, Brent Headrick and David Bednar each pitched a scoreless inning to complete the Yankees eighth shutout of the season.

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