Schlittler's stuff ticks up in matchup vs. familiar rival Red Sox

NEW YORK -- Cam Schlittler protected a shutout until his final pitch of the afternoon in Sunday's 6-1 win against the Red Sox, watching Ceddanne Rafaela slide home safely on Willson Contreras’ game-tying two-out double to left field.

That cemented a no-decision for Schlittler, but it came in an encouraging 5 2/3-inning effort for the Yankees right-hander, who seemed to bounce back after manager Aaron Boone said the 25-year-old’s stuff dipped a touch in his previous two outings.

Schlittler’s 1.87 ERA continues to lead the American League. He’s third in the Majors behind the Phillies’ Cristopher Sánchez (1.46) and the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski (1.50) among qualified pitchers.

Matching up against Boston for the third time in his career (and the first time at Yankee Stadium since his stellar performance in last year’s Game 3 of the American League Wild Card Series), Schlittler limited Boston to four hits and a walk, striking out five.

Schlittler’s fastball was clocked as high as 99.5 mph in the outing, averaging 97.5 mph -- just 0.2 mph off his season average of 97.7. His cutter (94.3 mph), sinker (98 mph) and curveball (86.1 mph) all inched up over his season averages.

One out from getting through the sixth, Contreras barreled a cutter over Cody Bellinger’s head in left field. Bellinger played it off the wall and tossed to shortstop Anthony Volpe in shallow left field, whose relay throw home took catcher Ali Sánchez up the line.