Cam Schlittler dominates as the Red Sox are eliminated following Wild Card Game 3 loss to the Yankees

NEW YORK —The Red Sox came into Thursday night with everything on the line, but when the dust settled on a tense and unforgiving Game 3, they were left watching the Yankees celebrate on the field. New York rode the energy of the raucous crowd and the constant heaters from rookie starting pitcher Cam Schlittler, who left the Red Sox looking for answers all night.

Two rookie starters were thrust into the spotlight, and both traded punches through the first three innings before the Yankees exploded for four runs in the fourth. The inning proved to be a dagger to the heart of the Red Sox’ continued postseason aspirations.

Sox left-hander Connelly Early battled, looking as cool as a cucumber on the mound. He set the Yankees down in order on eight pitches in the first inning and worked around a scare in the second inning. Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton crushed a leadoff double that he thought was gone off the crack of the bat. Stanton didn’t hustle out of the box, and left fielder Jarren Duran didn’t exactly have any pep in his step to retrieve the ball that tattooed the left-center field wall.

A poised Early worked around the double and set the next three batters in order, getting Ben Rice to strike out swinging, Ahmed Rosario to pop out to Wilyer Abreu, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. to strike out looking.

Boston made Schlittler work through the first two innings, as the Walpole native threw 36 pitches. The Sox’ approach looked dramatically different from the first two games, making the Yankees starter work deeper into counts to drive his pitch count up.

Masataka Yoshida was the first Sox hitter to collect a base hit, hitting a line drive into left field, but Boston was unable to cash in on the leadoff single. Ceddanne Rafaela struck out on a foul tip, Nathaniel Lowe went down looking, and Carlos Narvaez grounded out to the shortstop. Schlittler worked around a two-out single from Yoshida in the fourth.

In the bottom of the fourth, the wheels came off for the Red Sox, as the Yankees were able to cash in off Early, who was strong up to that point. Cody Bellinger doubled to open the frame on a sinking popup to right center field that Rafaela tried to make a diving catch on but was unable to hang on to the ball. 

“I saw Willy didn’t maybe have a chance so I gave my all to catch that ball,” Rafaela said. “I just saw he wasn’t going to get to it and I dove trying to catch it.”

Both Abreu and Rafaela were asked if either of them called for the ball and both said no.

Early walked Stanton to put two runners on before Rosario singled sharply into left field, scoring two runs, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

The bleeding didn’t stop there for the Red Sox. Chisholm Jr. singled to right, moving the runners, before Anthony Volpe singled to right field to load the bases. Austin Wells hit a chopper to the first baseman, Lowe, where the ball clipped his glove, allowing two more runs to score. He was charged with an error on the play. 

Early went 3 2/3 innings, allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts. Despite his pitching line and 7.36 ERA, Early's defense let him down in Game 3, as evidenced by his 0.68 FIP.

Schlittler was excellent in his postseason debut. The righty commanded his fastball, pumping 11 100 mph fastballs in his outing and 26 pitches at 99 mph in his outing. His 12 strikeouts were the most ever by a Yankees pitcher in his postseason debut.

“We needed to be perfect tonight, because he was perfect," Alex Cora said of Schlittler's stuff. "The stuff is outstanding. He was under control. That was electric.”

The rookie dominated the Red Sox, throwing eight scoreless innings and allowing five hits. He was the first Yankee pitcher to fire eight shutout innings in the playoffs since Roger Clemens in the 2000 World Series. He officially etched his name in Yankees’ postseason lore. 

He also became the first rookie to strike out at least 10 batters in a postseason game since Livan Hernandez struck out 15 for the Florida Marlins in 1997. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Schlittler is also the first pitcher in baseball history to go eight innings with 12 strikeouts and no walks in a postseason game.

"Yeah, I mean, he's a really good pitcher," a despondent Duran said after the game. "We haven't seen him all year, and he was just able to locate and pitch really good."

Schlittler dismantled the team he rooted for as child growing up and looks like a real threat in the Yankees' rotation for the remainder of the postseason and beyond.

"I woke up and I was locked in," Schlittler said following the game. "I knew exactly what I needed to do and go out there, especially against my hometown team. I wasn't going to let them beat me."

For Cora’s group, the Game 3 loss is a bitter pill to swallow for his young team. The Sox navigated through inconsistent play the first two months of the season before they got hot over a two-month stretch. They also pushed through injuries to key players to get to the postseason. The injury to Roman Anthony proved to be a crucial blow to the Sox’ lineup. Boston’s fiercest rivals' starting pitching dominated the series and was a decisive factor in this series.

The Red Sox will head into the offseason needing to add to their rotation behind ace Garrett Crochet, address the potential of Bregman opting out, add a legitimate power threat, move an outfielder to alleviate the logjam, and clean up their defense, which has continued to plague them for years.