Cam Schlittler not only handled his first MLB postseason start. He dominated the team he grew up rooting for and made history.
The New York Yankees starting pitcher threw eight innings of shutout ball while striking out 12 in their 4-0 win over the Boston Red Sox in the decisive Game 3 of the AL Wild Card Series.
Schlittler became the first pitcher in MLB postseason history to strike out 12+ and walk zero over eight-plus innings. The Walpole, Massachusetts native, who is just 24 years old, grew up a Red Sox fans and even had family and friends openly rooting against him in the decisive game.
Yet, thanks to Schlittler’s dominance, the Yankees are onto the ALDS where they will face the Toronto Blue Jays. Game 1 will be Saturday at 4:08 p.m. ET.
Cam Schlittler Made History In Game 3
A combination of Schlittler’s dominance, and Yankees pitching injuries to Clarke Schmidt, forced the rookie into the majors, since he started the year in Double-A.
Yet, his demeanor and triple-digit fastball put him in line for the start in the all-or-nothing game against New York’s biggest rival. He and Boston starter Connelly Early became the third-youngest duo of starting pitchers to ever start a win-or-go-home game — only Game 7 of the 2020 NLCS and Game 5 of the Yankees vs Cleveland Guardians ALDS featured younger combined ages.
If Schlittler vs Early is going to be the ace vs ace duel for the next decade of this rivalry, chalk the first round to the Yankees budding ace. He gave up just five singles and did not allow a Red Sox hitter past second base while throwing an eye-popping 75 of his career-high 107 pitches for strikes.
“You feel dominant out there,” Schlittler said. “It’s a good feeling being to put those guys away. They got a good lineup.”
With his 12 strikeouts he tied Orlando Hernandez for the third-most strikeouts in a Yankees postseason game — behind only Gerrit Cole in 2020 and Roger Clemens in the 2000 ALCS.
A star is born tonight,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told Meredith Marakovits of YES Network. “He’s a special kid. It’s obviously amazing stuff, but he’s shown us this from the jump. He’s not afraid. He expects this, and I’m not surprised at all what he did.”
The Yankees finally got Schlittler four runs in the fourth inning, and the Yankees starter retired the final nine hitters and struck out four of them, seeming to get stronger as the night went on.
“It was great. I wasn’t sure I could get back out there for the eighth [inning],” Schlittler told Buster Olney of ESPN.com. “For Booney to let me take that chance felt great.”
With A Dominant Cam Schlittler, The Yankees Are Looking Dangerous
The Yankees know they will have a starting-pitching advantage in most series against American League opposition, since they will get at least four starts from co-aces Max Fried and Carlos Rodon.
Yet, if Schlittler is going to pitch anywhere near at this level, the Yankees now have three ace-caliber starters. Fried led the AL in wins (19), Rodon was tied for second (18) and the troika combined for an ERA of 1.32 — even though the Yankees lost with Fried on the hill in Game 1, he threw 6 1/3 shutout innings.
The Yankees bullpen has been suspect, but it will be rested for the Toronto series and could be less of a factor if Fried, Rodon, Schlittler plus 2024 AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil — who is waiting as the No. 4 starter — can dominate opposing offenses as the Yankees starters did against the Red Sox.
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