Schlittler rebounds from rough start with dazzler, but help is too little, too late

NEW YORK – The past several days served as a showcase for the Yankees’ player development pipeline, with George Lombard Jr., Spencer Jones and Ben Rice all contributing to victories over the Braves.

Sunday was Cam Schlittler’s turn to shine, but the support came too late.

Michael Harris II knocked in the deciding run with a 10th-inning single off Paul Blackburn, sending the Yankees to a 2-1 loss on Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

“Regardless of the score, you always want to try to put yourself in the position to be perfect and set your team up for a win,” Schlittler said. “It’s a close game against a really good team, so if you’re not going to be locked in for that, then I don’t know what will get you there.”

Schlittler bounced back from one of his roughest outings of the year, striking out 11 without a walk over seven innings. Trent Grisham hit a game-tying homer in the eighth, but that was all the Yankees’ scuffling offense could muster.

“At the moment, those guys have had to be almost perfect for us to be in the ballgame,” catcher Austin Wells said. “And they have been, which has been incredible. [Schlittler] knew what he needed to do.”

The Yanks fell to 2-9 in extra-inning contests this season.

“It’s super frustrating when you know your abilities, and you go out there and go into the cage to work every day,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. said. “It’s just not coming together in the game. You’ve just got to keep on going and push through it.”

In their first full series with a new-look, post-Trade Deadline lineup that also featured first baseman Luis García Jr. and outfielder Heliot Ramos, the Yankees played three consecutive one-run games, managing nine runs total over the series.

“We’ve got to do more and put some runs on,” manager Aaron Boone said. “But unlike some of the other games where we’ve been shut down, I do feel like we were getting some good swings off them. We had better at-bats as a club, but we’ve still got to find a way to push them across.”

New York’s best chance of breaking through against Grant Holmes came in the sixth inning, when Wells singled and Grisham doubled with one out. Rice flied out and Ramos struck out to end the inning.

The production should improve when the Yankees eventually get Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton back from the injured list. But they can’t wait that long.

“We’re a little different than we were last week,” Boone said. “We do have a little more flexibility personnel-wise. In different days, we’ve got a couple more real hitters in the lineup. I feel like we’re better right now, even today.”

Matt Olson’s seventh-inning homer accounted for the Braves’ only dent off Schlittler, coming as the slugger turned around a 100.0 mph four-seamer.

“It was a 2-0 count,” Schlittler said. “I was kind of playing him away early the first two at-bats. I just kind of left it middle-down there. He was able to clip it.”

Considered a frontrunner for the American League Cy Young Award alongside Blue Jays right-hander Dylan Cease, Schlittler came out of the gate hot, striking out five of the first six batters.

Schlittler allowed three hits in all, throwing 67 of 96 pitches for strikes. All of Schlittler’s strikeouts came on fastballs.

“He was in the zone with his heater. All the stuff was moving great,” Wells said. “He got ahead and was able to just kind of roll through those guys over there. It’s a great lineup, and he did a great job.”

In his previous outing, Schlittler labored through three innings against the Cardinals, throwing 83 pitches (51 strikes) while issuing a career-high five walks in a 13-7 loss.

Boone had called that outing “arguably his worst one of the season,” expecting a bounce-back performance Sunday. Sure enough, Schlittler was much more efficient against the Braves, getting through six innings on 70 pitches.

It was one of Schlittler’s best starts of the year in the Bronx. Overall, he has been sharper on the road, posting a 1.10 ERA across 14 starts compared to a 3.95 ERA in 11 starts at Yankee Stadium.

“There’s a big chance that stuff is a coincidence,” Schlittler said. “At the same time, it’s just being more locked in. Coming here, it was a day game against a really good team. I just tried to be focused and limit the distractions.”