Littell (2-3) took the loss Tuesday as the Rays fell 3-0 to the A's, allowing three unearned runs on five hits and a walk over seven innings. He struck out nine.
The right-hander set a new career high in strikeouts, generating 30 called or swinging strikes among his 95 pitches, but a Brandon Lowe error helped prolong the sixth inning and set the stage for a three-run homer by Miguel Andujar. Littell had to settle for his fourth quality start of the year, and he'll take a 3.03 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 64:10 K:BB through 62.1 innings into his next outing, which lines up to come on the road this weekend in Baltimore.
Littell didn't factor into the decision Tuesday against Boston, allowing two runs on three hits and one walk across 5.2 innings. He struck out seven.
Littell fared better against the Red Sox the second time around, holding them to three hits Tuesday after yielding seven hits and four runs to Boston in his last start. Though the 28-year-old did surrender a solo homer to Jarren Duran, he tied his season high in strikeouts and walked fewer than two batters for the sixth time in his last seven starts. Littell hasn't gone deeper than six innings this season but owns a 3.42 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP across 10 appearances. He's scheduled for a home start against the Athletics next Tuesday.
Littell didn't factor into the decision Thursday, allowing four runs on seven hits and a walk over five innings against the Red Sox. He struck out three.
Littell surrendered his first home run since April 22, yielding a solo home run to Rafael Devers in the second inning. Thursday's outing marked Littell's second time in nine starts allowing four or more runs. On the year, Littell owns a 3.44 ERA, a 1.31 WHIP and a 48:4 K:BB across 49.2 innings. He's tentatively scheduled for a rematch with Boston during a three-game homestand early next week.
Littell (2-2) got the victory Saturday versus the Yankees, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks over 5.2 innings. He notched three strikeouts.
Littell came into this outing with zero walks over his last four starts and at least six strikeouts in all of those outings. While he went the other direction in both areas during Saturday's start, it was an effective outing nonetheless. Littell is sitting on a 3.02 ERA, but this was his first win since March 30. His next outing projects to come in Boston.
