Littell (3-7) took the loss Monday against the Yankees, allowing five earned runs on nine hits and two walks in 5.2 innings. He struck out six.
The 28-year-old surrendered three home runs in this one, including back-to-back blasts from Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe in the second inning. Littell has allowed at least one home run in 11 of his past 12 starts, limping to a 5.49 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and 55:12 K:BB during that stretch. The right-hander boasts an elite 4.95 K/BB that ranks in the 94th percentile, but he will need to keep the ball in the yard to find consistency. Littell will look to bounce back his next time out, a start currently scheduled for this weekend against Cincinnati.
Rays' Zack Littell: Nabs quality start in no-decision
Rotowire
Littell allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out three batters over six innings in a no-decision against the Guardians on Saturday.
Littell got through four scoreless frames before serving up a solo homer to Angel Martinez in the fifth inning. A catcher's interference call on batterymate David Fry led to a second Cleveland run in the frame, which tied the score and took Littell out of line for a victory. The right-hander ended his outing on a high note, retiring the side in order in the sixth to notch his first quality start since June 9. Littell will finish the first half of the campaign with a 4.26 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 94:19 K:BB over 101.1 innings.
