NEW YORK – After their Game 2 victory in the American League wild card series against the Boston Red Sox, Yankees manager Aaron Boone only needed a moment with Game 3 starter Cam Schlittler to realize he had nothing to worry about.
The moment would not be too big for the rookie.
Boone’s instincts were proven right, and the confidence he’s had in his young pitcher since spring training paid off in more ways than one.
Schlittler, a 24-year-old right-hander from Walpole, Massachusetts, just 30 minutes from Boston, took the mound at Yankee Stadium and mowed down the Red Sox lineup through eight innings, throwing a career-high 107 pitches (75 for strikes) and striking out 12 batters, outdueling fellow rookie Connelly Early. The 12 strikeouts are the most by a Yankees rookie pitcher in a postseason game.
“What a performance,” said Boone in the understatement of the night. ‘When you throw 100 and command the baseball and can land your secondary pitches, you can be a problem for the opposition. So that’s what he is capable of. And obviously efficient enough to get through eight innings there, and I mean, just … I am not surprised, honestly.’
While Schlittler kept Boston at bay in his postseason debut, his teammates gave him all the support he needed when New York sent 10 batters to the plate and scored four runs in the fourth inning, which decided the game.
The Yankees will face the Toronto Blue Jays in the Division Series.
Schlittler had it working all night, the command of a 100-mph heater mixed with high velocity secondary pitches befuddling the Red Sox hitters. Eleven of his pitches hit 100 mph or higher. He was also backed by a defense that didn’t throw the ball away; New York committed only two errors in the three-game series, after 94 in the regular season.
Even Schlittler was surprised that he gave the Yankees length, as it is something he hadn’t done in any of his 14 regular-season starts since making his major league debut July 9 against the Seattle Mariners. It was the first time at any professional level that he had more than 10 strikeouts in a start.
‘That’s something I did in college, but in my professional career, that’s not something I was able to get over that hump. I would get nine a lot. I didn’t always throw 100,’ said Schlittler, who showed up to the post-game press conference with a blinged-out, WWE-style championship belt around his shoulders and goggles ready for the champagne shower that was to commence.
‘So, once I got up here, it was something I was able to make an adjustment on. Even here I couldn’t get to 10 (strikeouts),’ Schlittler said. ‘Obviously that’s not the goal, is getting the most strikeouts, but it is a good feeling to be able to go out there and dominate a lineup.’
The Yankees are the first team since the three-team wild card format began to lose Game 1 and then come back to win the series. Their comeback begins with Boone, who sent Schlittler back to the mound for the eighth inning even though he had thrown 100 pitches through seven innings.
The conversation between pitcher and manager as to whether Schlittler would continue was minimal.
‘I was going to go hitter to hitter with him. I trusted his ability to fill up the zone,’ Boone said. ‘Obviously, I had Devin (Williams) ready behind him in the eighth if anything got away, but he ends up having a really quick inning. He seemed good to me. It is a little bit of unchartered territory for him. I don’t think he has ever gone that deep. No, he seemed in control to me.’
The calm Schlittler sent Romy Gonzalez back to the Boston dugout after he struck out for the second time on the night to start the eighth. It was the next plate appearance by Jarren Duran that will be talked about for years to come. The Yankees are known for their late-inning theatrics – Thursday marked the 47th anniversary of Bucky Dent’s dramatic seventh-inning, three-run home run in 1978, which propelled the Yankees to the AL East title and eventually back-to-back World Series titles.
Duran swung at Schlittler’s first offering, a 96-mph cutter, and popped it up toward the Red Sox dugout on the third base side. Ryan McMahon raced to catch it … and his whole body ended up going over the dugout railing as he made a sensational catch. The very next pitch ended Schlittler’s night when he retired Trevor Story on a weak groundout to shortstop.
‘Yeah, that was amazing,’ Schlittler said of McMahon’s play. ‘I was just hoping he wasn’t hurt. Everybody running over there to check on him. Again, obviously the momentum was on our side, and he just kind of kept it going.’
The kid from Boston had plenty to say about the fans of his hometown team, admitting that people from that region can be aggressive and get under people’s skin. Yet he took the outside noise and used it in a brilliant performance, exuding the confidence it will take as the Yankees proceed deeper in the playoffs and face lineups more potent than the Red Sox.
‘It’s personal for me playing Boston,’ Schlittler said. ‘I was locked in. I trusted the guys to back me up there and they did. 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.
‘I didn’t like some of the things they said today. 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. They just picked the wrong guy to do it to. And the wrong team to do it to.’