- Yankees rookie Cam Schlittler had the start of his life in winner-take-all game vs. Red Sox.
- A Massachusetts native, Schlittler said Boston fans crossed the line.
- Yankees start ALDS vs. Toronto Blue Jays on Oct. 4.
NEW YORK – Their chief rivals were vanquished, and a playoff-clinching victory was in hand, but the New York Yankees lined up in a regular handshake line, exchanging fives and smiles.
No dogs were piled by the mound, no victory laps taken. Inside their clubhouse, where they gathered for toasts and the de rigueur champagne showers after their 4-0 victory eliminated the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the American League Wild Card series, the revelry was cut short not long after they’d blasted through George Benson and The Game on their standard clubhouse playlist, and then calmly walked outside for a team photo.
By 11:30, the protective plastic wrap was off the lockers, the room silent. Yet the two bottles of Ace of Spades champagne resting in rookie pitcher Cam Schlittler’s chair at his locker spoke volumes.
Schlittler had already done his figurative talking, setting a franchise rookie record with 12 strikeouts over eight shutout innings. And the champagne had hardly started to flow when Schlittler, a Walpole, Mass. native, revealed his deep satisfaction beyond saving New York’s season: That unspecified Red Sox fans were talking, um, trash about him before the game, perhaps on social media.
The professional mixed with personal. Missions accomplished.
“I didn’t like some of the things they said today,” says Schlittler, who converted his family to Yankee fans once he donned pinstripes. “I’m not going to get into it, but there’s a line I think they crossed a little bit. Again, I’m a competitor and I’m going to go out there and make sure I shut them down.
“We’re aggressive back home and we’re going to try to get under people’s skins.
“They just picked the wrong guy to do it to. And the wrong team to do it to.”
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Indeed, these Yankees stared down their seasonal mortality the past two nights, making history by becoming the first of 16 teams to drop Game 1 of these best-of-three shootouts, only to come back the next two nights to beat Boston.
And sure, the accomplishment itself was modest: The Yankees essentially played their way into the field of eight, and they were due to pack onto a plane for Toronto and a Division Series clash with the Blue Jays, who won the AL East and the playoff’s top seed and a week off while New York squabbled with Boston.
Yet what the Yankees gained by taking the field can’t be measured: The bravado that comes with playoff survival and advancing to face a foe far more flawed than the last time they met.
And the knowledge that the trash-talking, 100-mph throwing rookie they trusted with their playoff lives earned their postgame championship belt by absolutely suplexing the Red Sox, setting a franchise rookie record with 12 strikeouts over eight scoreless innings.
The Blue Jays? Without franchise shortstop Bo Bichette and hoping their own rookie, Trey Yesavage, can bail out their wobbling pitching staff.
The Mariners? Their own ace, Bryan Woo, may not be available for their ALDS.
The Tigers? Their de facto AL Central title claimed in their wild-card series against Cleveland was nice, but the potency of Tarik Skubal is watered down when it comes time for five- and seven-game tussles.
No, this is why the Yankees believe more than ever that the pennant they won in 2024 can be defended.
“It’s ours to lose,” veteran DH Giancarlo Stanton tells USA TODAY Sports. “We just gotta come out and play crisp baseball. That’s what it’s about.
“Anyone can go out in three games. But it’s about showing up when you need to. There’s a lot of good, positive things about these three days.”
None bigger than the 6-6 Schlittler, who debuted July 9, posted a 2.96 ERA in 14 starts and earned this Game 3 nod down the stretch.
He’s a massive, strong dude and it’s the year 2025 so of course, he throws gas. Yet he’d never hit 100 mph six times in the first inning, as he did in Game 3. Never threw more than 100 pitches in his career – until tossing 107.
Never did complete more than seven innings in the big leagues – until Game 3, when Aaron Boone kept fist-bumping him after his dominant innings, rather than shaking his hand, a silent and symbolic go-ahead to get back out there and continue mowing down the Red Sox.
No, Schlittler did not quit until he’d completed eight innings and handed the game right to closer David Bednar, taking the volatility of set-up relief out of the equation.
And the Red Sox out of the playoffs.
“Definitely a dream to play Boston in the playoffs,” says Schlittler, “and end their season.”
Oh?
“It’s personal for me playing Boston,” he says. “I was locked in. People from Boston had a lot to say before the game. For me, just being a silent killer and being able to go out there and shut them down.”
It would be hard to blame the Yankees if they created a phalanx of social media bots from Ontario and points beyond in the Great White North, the better to get Schlittler juiced for a Game 4 ALDS assignment against the Blue Jays.
Now, though, he can take a number and watch, probably, Luis Gil in Game 1, followed by the Yankees’ lefty aces in Max Fried and Carlos Rodón.
Oh, they’re far from flawless. Boston’s lefty starters Garrett Crochet and Connelly Early largely suppressed their left-handed hitters, with Cody Bellinger finding good fortune and a patch of grass on a leadoff fourth-inning double struck at 77 mph – yet potent enough to spark a four-run rally.
But Toronto – and, should they advance, Seattle – will come at New York with almost all right-handers, giving Ben Rice and Jazz Chisholm and Bellinger optimal chances to take their hacks. The great Skubal can only start so many games should Detroit get through.
No, the field is opening up for the defending pennant winners – especially when new heroes are emerging.
“That’s what you need. You need guys to step up,” says slugger and MVP co-favoriet Aaron Judge. “Especially with the Yankees – we’re gonna go out and trade for guys. We’re gonna go out and get the big free agents.
“But if you’re able to develop and get a guy like Cam through your minor-league system, it’s special.”
Judge is relishing the Blue Jays series, if only because “Toronto will be rocking. The Bronx is gonna be rocking. It’s gonna be fun.”
Another month of opportunity awaits. The chance for the franchise’s 28th title and first since 2009 is still very much in play. History is hard to make in pinstripes, with thousands of players who came before this current bunch.
Yet Schlittler, still just 24, did just that. And definitely proved he’s not a dude to be messed with.
“Cam went out and attacked with all his pitches,” says Judge, “and did something really special.”