Cam Schlittler K’s 13 — Goes to 8-3 1.71. NY 5 Cincinnati 0

June 20, 2026 paperbacklou 2026 0
Cam Schlittler K's 13 in 6 innings of shutout ball vs Cincinnati.

Cam Schlittler threw down a Gem — striking out 13 and walking 0 in 6 innings of 4-hit, shutout ball to lead NY to a sweet and simple 5-0 win over the Reds on a beautiful, June night at Yankee Stadium.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. rebounded from fouling a pitch off his balls the night before, and smacked a solo HR in the 2nd, and Ben Rice followed 3 batters later with a 3-run HR for a 4-0 Yankee lead. The game stayed that way until the 8th, when Anthony Volpe singled in Jazz Chisholm for a 5-0 Yankee lead.

Volpe went 2-3 on the day with a walk — he is now slashing 1-13-.265 (.371 OBP, .757 OPS).

Jake Bird, Brent Headrick, and David Bednar pitched a shutout inning each to close it.

“Electric real early,” said manager Aaron Boone about Schlittler. “Except that first batter — hits him — and then goes to work. Great presence at the top of the zone; using the sinker well. He was feeling it tonite.”

NY improves to 46-28 and remain 3 games in front of Tampa for 1st place in the AL East. Cincinnati falls to 35-39, in last place in the NL Central, 10.5 games back of Milwaukee. The Reds were 20-11 at the end of April, but since May 1st they are 15-28.

1. Schlittler Throws Another GEM

Cam Schlittler had a couple of subpar performances 3 and 4 starts ago, after which he said he made adjustments including an effort to stand taller on the mound. It’s worked.

He pitched a Gem for the 2nd start in a row — this time striking out a career high 13 batters, and he did it in 6 innings. Doing the math there were only 5 guys who didn’t make out by striking out.

One was centerfielder Blake Dunn, who was hit by a pitch leading off the ballgame, but was immediately gunned down trying to steal 2nd by J.C. Escarra while Schlittler was striking out leftfielder JJ Bleday, the 2nd batter of the game. Schlittler then struck out Stewart to end the inning.

Schlittler — throwing 100 MPH SMOKE with his four-seam fastball and sinker, along with his nasty curve — struck out 3 more guys in the 2nd, working around an error by Jazz Chisholm Jr. to start the inning, and a 1-out single by 3rd baseman Eugenio Suarez.

And Schlittler struck out 3 more guys in the 3rd, working around a 1-out double by Blake Dunn. By that time he had a 4-0 lead.

Schlittler struck out the side 1-2-3 in the 4th; got a fly out and 2 more strikeouts in the 5th; and pitched around a leadoff single and 2-out single in the 6th — getting a groundout to end his night at 96 pitches.

Schlittler goes to 8-3 1.71 and has the lowest ERA of any Yankee pitcher after 16 starts in a season since Whitey Ford‘s 1.47 in 1964, according to ESPN’s Bryan Hoch. Ron Guidry also had an ERA of 1.71 after 16 starts in 1978, but Schlittler must be a hair below that.

Afterwards, Josh Hart of the NBA Champion NY Knicks — and Elston Howard‘s nephew — tweeted “Schlitty is the Cy Young winner hands down.”

Schlittler responded in kind: “It’s a good thing to hear, Josh is a great guy… Pumped for him and the city of New York, being able to finish that off and it’s great to have his support.”

2. Jazz & Rice HR’s Put NY Up 4-0 in 2nd

The Reds started Rhett Lowder, a 24-year-old, 6’1 righty who came in with a 3-3 4.60 record and left with a 3-4 4.82 record. Lowder throws a 94-MPH four-seam fastball and sinker, an 88-MPH slider, and 86-MPH changeup.

He pitched a shutout 1st (working around a 1-out double by Jasson Dominguez).

But Jazz Chisholm Jr. — fresh off fouling a ball off his nuts the night before wherein he was removed from the game in the 4th inning — led off the 2nd with a 393-foot BLAST to right for a 1-0 Yankee lead.

Ben Rice MVP

Next batter Spencer Jones walked, and Anthony Volpe walked behind him to put runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out. Lowder struck out Ryan McMahon and got J.C. Escarra to fly out and was ‘this close’ to getting out of the inning, when Ben Rice massacred a 93-MPH four seam fastball 433 feet to right for a 4-0 game.

3. Volpe RBI Single Puts NY Up 5-0 in 8th

After the Rice homer, Lowder settled down, pitching a 1-2-3 inning in the 3rd; working around a 2-out single by Ryan McMahon in the 4th; pitching around a leadoff single by Ben Rice and a 1-out walk to Cody Bellinger in the 5th; and getting an out in the 6th before an Anthony Volpe single sent him to the showers.

Former Yankee Caleb Ferguson, a 29-year-old 6’3 lefty, came in to get a doubleplay to end the 6th and pitched a shutout 7th. He is having a great year with a 1.64 ERA out of Cincy’s pen.

The Reds brought in Zach Maxwell, a 25-year-old, 6’6 righty, to pitch the 7th and 8th. Maxwell pitched a shutout 7th, allowing only a 2-out single to The Martian.

But in the 8th, Jazz Chisholm and Spencer Jones walked back to back for the 2nd time in the game, and Anthony Volpe singled in Chisholm for a 5-0 Yankee lead.

4. Bird, Headrick, & Bednar Throw Shutout Inning Each

The Yankee pen pitched 3 shutout innings:

  • Jake Bird pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 7th, with 2 strikeouts.
  • Brent Headrick got groundout, lineout, walk, popout in the 8th, and
  • David Bednar pitched a non-agita, 1-2-3 inning in the 9th — strikeout, fly out, strikeout for the old ballgame.

Etcetera

It was a good to decent night for all Yankee young players from the system:

  • Volpe went 2-3 with a walk to raise his slash line to 1-13-.265 (.371 OBP, .757 OPS).
  • The Martian went 2-4 to raise his average to .216 (.276 OBP).
  • Spencer Jones went 0-2 with 2 walks and a run scored, continuing to show patience at the plate. He’s at .235 (.350 OBP).

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401815813

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