Cam Schlittler needed just one postseason start to earn his pinstripes.
And then some.
The 24-year-old, in his first taste of October in the Bronx and in his introduction to the rivalry, mowed down the Red Sox in Thursday’s decisive game three, breezing through eight dominant innings that included a whopping 12 strikeouts, the most by any Yankee ever in his first playoff start.
Meanwhile, the Yankees plated all of their runs in a four-run fourth that saw the Red Sox defense come apart. With all the concern about New York’s fundamental baseball, it was the Yanks benefiting from an opponent’s miscues to fight off elimination for a second straight night and advance to the ALDS for the second straight season.
Schlittler received a standing ovation when he came out for the top of the eighth, and retired Boston in order before hearing another raucous applause as he made his way back to the dugout, and into Yankees/Red Sox rivalry lore.
The two rookies, Schlittler and Connelley Early, traded zeroes until the bottom of the fourth, when Early -along with the Boston defense - blinked. Cody Bellinger started things off with a bloop double, one that center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela seemed to take a bad route to before falling short on a diving attempt to make the catch. After a walk to Giancarlo Stanton and a strikeout of Ben Rice, Amed Rosario bounced a single through the left side to plate the first run of the game, and a Jazz Chisholm single to right loaded the bases with one out.
Anthony Volpe bounced a single through the right side to score Stanton, as the typically homer-happy Bombers continued to find holes in their fourth-inning rally.
Austin Wells, the game two hero, worked a full count before sending a grounder towards Nathaniel Lowe at first. Lowe tried to backhand a shorthop in hopes of turning an inning-ending double play, but the ball glanced off his glove and trickled into right field, allowing two runs to score as the Yanks doubled their lead.
Meanwhile, Schlittler continued to cruise, striking out the side in the fifth in a crucial shutdown inning. Pitching in his first career playoff game, the righty devastated the Red Sox lineup with his blazing high fastball, and still hit triple digits in the eighth inning. He was helped in the eighth by defensive replacement Ryan McMahon, who made a spectacular running catch in foul ground before crashing into the railing in front of the Red Sox dugout, and flipping over onto the benches on the other side. McMahon held on for the second out, much to the delight of the Bronx crowd.
David Bednar came on to shut the door for a second straight night and send the Red Sox home, the first time the Yankees have eliminated their hated rivals from the playoffs since Aaron Boone’s walk-off home run in game seven of the 2003 ALCS.