Schlittler works around traffic to deliver effective 5 1/3-inning start

TORONTO -- Presented with the chance to pitch with his nearest competition in the American League Cy Young Award race -- Dylan Cease -- in the opposing dugout on Saturday at Rogers Centre, Yankees starter Cam Schlittler battled through traffic for much of the afternoon before turning the game over to the bullpen in the sixth inning.

Although he was operating without his sharpest command, Schlittler still managed to work 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball in the Yankees’ 4-1 loss to the Blue Jays before exiting. The 25-year-old racked up seven strikeouts on 97 pitches (56 strikes) while surrendering four hits and three walks.

Schlittler left with runners on first and second, but lefty Brent Headrick came on to strike out Andrés Giménez and induce a Brandon Valenzuela groundout to end the threat.

Schlittler also bent but didn’t break early, stranding two runners in the first after a leadoff single and a two-out walk, striking out Kazuma Okamoto to escape the jam. Then, after a 1-2-3 second, Schlittler ran into trouble in the third after getting a quick out to open the frame.

Following Brett Bateman’s one-out walk, the Blue Jays brought their center fielder around to score with back-to-back singles. But after a mound visit from pitching coach Matt Blake, Schlittler bore down to get the next two outs, leaving runners on first and third.

From there, the 6-foot-6 Schlittler retired the next seven batters he faced before a walk and single brought his outing to a close.

“Cam’s obviously taking another step as a starting pitcher, and really starting to cement himself as one of the really, really good ones in this league,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said pregame. “I feel like he's handled it all really well. He’s bounced back from tough outings. Obviously, hasn't had a lot of those, but his last outing was dominant again after one of his roughest starts of the season time before, so it's been great.”

Schlittler, who has built a quick rivalry with the Blue Jays in a short amount of time, averaged 98.2 mph with his four-seam fastball on the afternoon, throwing the pitch 45 times and mixing in 26 cutters, 15 sinkers and 11 curveballs.

And despite some of the traffic on the bases, Schlittler had his swing-and-miss stuff working throughout, generating 14 whiffs on 40 swings.