WASHINGTON — With a dazzling first half in the books, Cam Schlittler’s next stop could be the mound at Citizens Bank Park.

The first-time All-Star put the finishing touches on his case to start the Midsummer Classic for the American League on Saturday, allowing two earned runs over 6 2/3 innings in a 4-2 win over the Nationals. While Schlittler surrendered home runs to James Wood and Curtis Mead in the opening inning, the Yankees pulled off a late comeback for the second straight game when Ryan McMahon, Trent Grisham and Paul Goldschmidt all homered in the eighth inning.

McMahon and Goldschmidt slugged solo shots, while Grisham’s in-between, go-ahead blast put two runs on the board. With that, a Yankees team that had previously lost 15 of 20 pulled off its third straight win.

“It’s electric to come back,” Schlittler said. “They bailed me out a little bit.”

But Schlittler did his part, providing coverage for a taxed bullpen and limiting a high-octane offense. The Nationals made for a particularly tough matchup, as they entered the game fourth in average (.274) and first in slugging (.481) against fastballs. Schlittler, meanwhile, throws a fastball variant — he has a four-seamer, cutter and sinker — 91.5% of the time.

While Wood and Mead smoked some heaters, Schlittler was able to improve his execution and command as the game went on.

“That’s a heavy offense that they run at you,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, “so it’s certainly a test, that’s for sure.”

With another passing grade, Schlittler now has a 2.05 ERA, the best among American League starters. His 3.6 fWAR ranked second in the league to Toronto’s Dylan Cease (3.7) prior to Saturday’s start.

Schlittler, who made his MLB debut on July 9 last season, has also recorded 137 strikeouts and 25 walks over 118 2/3 innings after totaling six strikeouts and an uncharacteristic four free passes on Saturday.

“What he’s done all year is just really special,” said David Bednar, who got the save on Saturday after throwing two innings on Friday. “He showcased that today.”

Prior to the victory, Boone said that “there’s a good chance” that Schlittler will pitch in Tuesday’s All-Star Game. However, he and Schlittler wanted to make sure that the right-hander got through his final start of the half without incident before making any commitments. Boone added that he had yet to hear from Blue Jays skipper John Schneider, who is managing the AL squad, about Schlittler’s potential usage.

While Schneider could tab his own guy to start, Schlittler has better numbers than Cease, who has already said that the pinstriper has “earned” the right, per MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson.

“We really just haven’t had that conversation yet,” Schlittler said. “We’ll see what happens in the next day or two, and if I’m comfortable doing that, then I’ll do that.”

Getting Schlittler into the star-studded exhibition shouldn’t be an issue. Tuesday lines up as a throw day — Schlittler would typically have a bullpen session — for the emerging ace. While a few nationally televised at-bats against some of baseball’s elites would come with more intensity, the scheduling should also give Schlittler enough time to recover and start Friday’s series-opener against the reigning champion Dodgers if the Yankees wish to go that route.

Either way, the 25-year-old is looking forward to the All-Star festivities in Philadelphia. Schlittler has volunteered to be Ben Rice’s “Gatorade guy” in Monday’s Home Run Derby, and his parents, siblings, grandma and uncle are attending the annual gathering of baseball’s top talent, of which he is now decidedly a part of.

“It’d be a cool experience,” Schlittler said of pitching in the game. “Not gonna lie, I’m not too worried about it. I got more things to worry about in terms of just this team and how we’ve been playing, and I like how it’s been the last couple days.

“It’d be good to end on a good note, get that sweep, go to Philly and just be comfortable with that.”

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