Cam Schlittler becomes youngest Yankees pitcher with 13 strikeouts and no walks in 5-0 win over Reds

Cam Schlittler is putting himself in some exclusive company among pitchers in New York Yankees franchise history.

>The second-year right-hander struck out a career-high 13 batters over 6 scoreless innings in the Yankees' 5-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday. He allowed only 4 hits with no walks.

>With that performance, the 25-year-old Schlittler became the youngest pitcher in Yankees history with 13 strikeouts with no walks, according to MLB.com's Sarah Langs. Schlitter also lowered his ERA to 1.71, the lowest by a Yankees pitcher after his first 16 starts of a season since Whitey Ford registered a 1.47 ERA in 1964.

Only Milwaukee Brewers fireballer Jacob Misiorowski has a lower ERA among MLB starting pitchers at 1.45. And that went up from 1.34 after he allowed 2 runs in a 3-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Friday.

>"I think he can make the case that he's been the best pitcher in the American League," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said when asked if Schlittler should be the AL's starting pitcher in the All-Star Game.

Boone also acknowledged that he monitored Schlittler to see if he was overthrowing to reach double-digit strikeouts, which he did for the first time this season. He had 10 afte four innings. Ultimately, Schlittler threw 96 pitches, 66 for strikes.

>In his 16 starts this season, Schlittler has allowed more than 2 runs in four of those appearances. He gave up a season-high 4 runs against the Cleveland Guardians on June 2. Otherwise, allowing 1 run or fewer has nearly become routine for him.

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>Ben Rice was another of the Yankees' young stars to make an impact on Friday's win. He hit his team-leading 21st home run of the season, a 3-run shot that gave the Yankees a 4-0 lead in the second inning.

>Rice has the third-most homers in the AL, behind Yordan Alvarez's 24 and Byron Buxton's 23. He ranks second in MLB with a .616 slugging percentage and 1.005 OPS.

>Additionally, Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off the second with his 11th homer of the season, showing he bounced back nicely from taking a foul ball to the groin on Thursday.