Friday night, it was the Reds.
Next month, it could be National League All-Stars Cam Schlittler’s debut.
The Yankees’ budding ace turned in a big change on Friday, striking out a career-high 13 in six scoreless innings en route to a 5-0 victory over the Reds in the Bronx.
Lowering his ERA to 1.71 through 16 starts, Schlittler added another highlight to his crowded resume to start the American League All-Star Game.
His biggest competitor on Friday was his pitch count, as he needed 96 pitches to get past the sixth, even if he kept going.
The Reds (35-39), who entered the night with the second-highest strikeout rate (24.5 percent) of any team, fell to Schlittler as he became the first Yankee to record 13 hits since Max Fried last September.
The right-hander scattered just four hits (one of which was a dropped fly ball by Jason Domínguez to right field) while walking none.
In the process, the 25-year-old Schlittler became the youngest pitcher in Yankees history to record 13 strikeouts and no walks in a game, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com.
“Shlitty won the Cy Young,” newly crowned NBA champion, Knicks star and known Yankees fan Josh Hart posted on X.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off the second inning with a home run and Ben Rice capped it off with a three-run shot, giving Schlittler all the run support he needed as the Yankees (46-28) won for the 10th time in their last 13 games.
Entering Friday, Schlittler’s regular season career was nine.
He surpassed that with Eugenio Suárez’s punchout on a 99 mph sinker to end the fourth inning, while striking out the side.
His career high was 12 hits in the AL wild card series against the hometown Red Sox last October.
But he hit that mark in the fifth inning, blasting a 98 mph heater past JJ Bleday with a three-run home run.
Schlittler’s night actually got off to a rough start when his first pitch was a sinker that struck out Blake Dunn.
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But when he came off the mound for the last time, he was applauded by the crowd of 42,420 for his efforts.
Jake Bird, Brent Headrick and David Bednar threw a scoreless inning to complete the shutout.
Chisholm, who left Thursday’s game in the middle of an at-bat after playing the ball (on a bounce) in his groin area, showed no side effects Friday.
To start the second inning, he got a changeup in the top of the field from Rhett Lowder of the Reds and lined it to second in right field for a 1-0 lead.
After Spencer Jones and Anthony Volpe followed with walks, Rice led off with one out and pounced on a 94 mph fastball at the top of the zone, smashing it into the net over Monument Park for a three-run shot — his 21st of the season — that made it 4-0.
Volpe later added an RBI single in the eighth inning with his second hit of the night.
