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Jorge Castillo
NEW YORK — Cam Schlittler shivered in a wet T-shirt, shorts and flip flops with a pair of ski googles in hand, feeling the effects of the October chill late Thursday night in the Bronx. It was 11:30 p.m., about 45 minutes after the New York Yankees secured the 27th out in a 4-0 win over the Boston Red Sox in a decisive Game 3 of the AL Wild Card Series, and the composure Schlittler had showcased all day, from the moment he woke up from a sound night’s sleep through his eight historic innings on the Yankee Stadium mound, did not waver through the postgame celebration.
He dutifully fielded rounds of interviews on the field while his parents, John and Christine, stood nearby answering questions from reporters about their son and his unprecedented performance — an eight-inning, 12-strikeout, zero-walk production that had never been seen on the postseason stage. Social media buzzed about the 24-year-old Massachusetts kid, a rookie in pinstripes who had just sent the Red Sox, the team he adored growing up in Walpole, home for the winter and their hated foes to the AL Division Series to face the Toronto Blue Jays.
Surely his phone was blowing up with congratulatory messages and accusations of treason. He just didn’t know how many quite yet.
“I don’t look at my phone after good starts,” Schlittler said. “It’s a distraction. It’s been a distraction since I got up here. I’ll go through them tomorrow.”
Schlittler puts his phone on airplane mode or on “do not disturb” a few hours before every start he makes. On Thursday, he had it on do not disturb all day, answering just a few people in his life, before taking the mound for his postseason debut. What followed was a poised, thorough dismantling to end the latest installment in a storied rivalry he had previously lived from the other side.
“I woke up and I was locked in,” Schlittler said. “I knew exactly what I needed to do, especially against my hometown team.”
The 6-foot-6 right-hander, in his 85th day as a major leaguer, became the first pitcher to toss at least eight scoreless innings with at least 12 strikeouts and zero walks in a postseason game, according to ESPN Research. His 12 strikeouts were the most in a winner-take-all game in history, the most in a playoff debut in Yankees history and the most he’s compiled in a professional game at any level.
“A star is born tonight,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s a special kid, man. He is not afraid. He expects this.”
Schlittler surrendered just five hits. He allowed one runner to reach scoring position. His four-seam fastball averaged 98.9 mph and topped out at 100.8. His sinker averaged 97.5 mph and topped out at 100.7. His six 100-plus mph pitches in the first inning alone were more than Yankees starting pitchers had combined to throw in the postseason since pitch tracking began in 2008.
“We needed to be perfect,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said, “because he was perfect.”
For three innings, left-hander Connelly Early matched Schlittler in the second winner-take-all game to feature rookie starting pitchers.
Early, 23, became the youngest Red Sox pitcher to start a postseason game since Babe Ruth in the 1916 World Series with just his fifth career start — postseason or not — after making his major league debut on Sept. 9. The scene did not overwhelm him as he allowed only two baserunners and needed 45 pitchers to secure the first nine out unscathed.
Then the shoddy Red Sox defense, which cost Boston dearly in Game 2, stumbled again in the fourth inning.
First, a blooper with a 7% hit probability off Cody Bellinger‘s bat landed between center fielder CEDDANNE RAFAELA and right fielder Wilyer Abreu for a hustle double. A walk to Giancarlo Stantonwho had narrowly missed a home run and doubled in the second inning, followed.
Two batters later, Amed Rosario drew first blood with the first of three singles, scoring Bellinger from second base. Anthony Volpe went the other way to right field with the next single before Austin Wells bounced a ground ball that ricocheted off first baseman Nathaniel Lowe‘s backhand attempt. The error allowed two more runs to score.
“We didn’t play defense,” Cora said. “The popup, drops, there’s a double, and there’s a walk. They didn’t hit the ball hard, but they found holes. It just happened fast.”
Schlittler rolled with the four-run blitz. His 100th pitch, matching his previous career high, was a 99 mph fastball to strike out Abreu to end the seventh inning. The crowd, assuming Schlittler’s night was over, went bonkers after the 11th punchout. But manager Aaron Boone thought Schlitter’s stuff was good enough to continue.
“I didn’t even want to talk to him much,” Boone said. “I just wanted to say, ‘You good?’ Usually, I will come down the steps if I am going to have a conversation or take him out. I kind of stood on the steps and just gave him my, ‘Are you good?’ He was.”
With that, Schlittler emerged for more, igniting the sellout crowd once again. He answered with a perfect, seven-pitch frame that began by striking out Romy Gonzalez with a 97.6 mph fastball. The next batter, Jaren Duranpopped up the first pitch he saw toward the Red Sox dugout. Ryan McMahonwho had entered the game as a defensive replacement two innings earlier, sprinted to make the catch, flipping headfirst over the rail and into the Red Sox dugout.
One pitch later, Trevor Story rolled a ground ball to the shortstop for the third out. Schlittler, the author of one of the greatest pitching performances in postseason history, calmly strutted off the mound for the night.
“I wasn’t going to let them beat me,” Schlittler said. “I was just overconfident in that fact.”
