It didn’t take lengthy for Cam Schlittler to point out he was prepared for this second.
The Yankees’ rookie right-hander started Thursday night time’s do-or-die Wild Card Sport 3 by pumping 100-mph fastball after 100-mph fastball, overpowering the Boston Crimson Sox in an announcement 1-2-3 first inning.
And that was simply the beginning.
In a dominant postseason debut, Schlittler hurled eight scoreless innings in a 4-0 win within the Bronx, sending the Yankees to the ALDS and eliminating their archrival within the course of.
The Yankees will face the Blue Jays within the ALDS, which begins Saturday afternoon in Toronto.
“I love the pressure,” Schlittler mentioned. “That’s something I embrace. I embrace the fans. When you’re on, you’re on, so for me to be able to embrace all that, it was a great feeling.”
Schlittler, who grew up a Crimson Sox fan in Walpole, Mass., started the season at Double-A Somerset however rapidly shot up the Yankees system and made his MLB debut in July.
He entered Thursday with solely 14 MLB begins below his belt, however supervisor Aaron Boone entrusted the flame-throwing 24-year-old with Thursday’s winner-take-all Sport 3 after he went 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA within the common season.
The Crimson Sox countered with a promising rookie of their very own, turning to left-hander Connelly Early, who made his MLB debut lower than a month in the past and pitched to a 2.33 ERA in 4 begins.
However the stoic Schlittler outdueled his counterpart, racking up 12 strikeouts behind a fastball that averaged 99.0 mph and maxed out at 100.8 mph. The 12 strikeouts set a single-game playoff report for a Yankees rookie.
“I felt great about where he was mentally last night when he was leaving,” Boone mentioned. “I knew it wasn’t going to be too big for him. What a performance.”
Boston managed solely 5 hits — all singles — in opposition to Schlittler, who didn’t challenge a stroll over his 107 pitches. Just one Crimson Sox runner reached second base, and Schlittler escaped that fifth-inning jam with a three-pitch strikeout of Jarren Duran.
Schlittler was at 100 pitches when he completed the seventh by hanging out Wilyer Abreu with a 99-mph fastball.
A sellout crowd of 48,833 erupted when Schlittler emerged from the dugout for the highest of the eighth. He wanted solely seven pitches to work by means of his ultimate inning, which was aided by third baseman Ryan McMahon making a operating catch in foul territory, then holding on as he flipped over the railing and into the Crimson Sox dugout.
“I thought I was done after the seventh,” Schlittler mentioned. “But [Boone has] put a lot of faith in me the last three months, so it’s a good feeling to go out there and return the favor.”
Schlittler mentioned Thursday’s sport felt “personal” for him after trash-talking Crimson Sox followers crossed a line. He declined to reveal what they mentioned, however he acknowledged a few of his associates have been amongst these chirping.
“Boston fans, that’s just how it is,” Schlittler mentioned. “We’re aggressive back home and we’re gonna try to get under people’s skin. They just picked the wrong guy to do it to and the wrong team to do it to.”
Early, in the meantime, obtained the beginning as a result of veteran right-hander Lucas Giolito was left off of Boston’s Wild Card roster as a result of an elbow harm.
The 23-year-old Early matched Schlittler by retaining the Yankees off the board by means of three innings, however they obtained to him for 4 runs within the fourth.
Cody Bellinger started that rally with a bloop double, and three batters later, Amed Rosario drove him in with an RBI single for the Yankees’ first run.
Anthony Volpe added an RBI single, and the Yankees scored two extra runs when Boston first baseman Nathaniel Lowe did not subject a bases-loaded chopper off the bat of Austin Wells for a expensive error.
That was loads of run help for Schlittler, who grew to become the primary pitcher in MLB historical past to throw at the very least eight innings with at the very least 12 strikeouts and never challenge a stroll in a playoff sport.
“He’s been our secret weapon,” Aaron Decide mentioned of Schlittler. “Ever since he got called up, this guy’s been impressive for us.”
After dropping Sport 1, the Yankees bounced again with victories in Video games 2 and three to win the best-of-three Wild Card sequence.
That is the primary time since MLB launched the best-of-three format in 2022 {that a} staff has superior after dropping Sport 1.
“These guys just kept playing,” Boone mentioned. “Honestly, going into the night for me personally, it felt like as pressure-packed a game as I have ever been in, as a player, manager, going into the World Series … just because of the context in my brain of what I think our team is. A great opponent. A storied opponent. Here, down one. The boys answered the bell and played great baseball.”
It’s additionally the primary time the Yankees have defeated the Crimson Sox in a playoff sequence because the 2003 ALCS, when Boone struck his famed walk-off house run in Sport 7. The Crimson Sox had eradicated the Yankees from the playoffs thrice since then.
The Yankees now flip their consideration to the Blue Jays, whom they’re set to fulfill within the postseason for the primary time.
The Yankees (94-68) completed with the identical report as Toronto within the common season, however the AL East crown went to the Blue Jays through tiebreaker as a result of they received the head-to-head season sequence, 8-5.
“They’re a complete team,” Decide mentioned of the Blue Jays. “They don’t strike out a lot, so they’re gonna put the ball in play and they’re gonna force your hand on defense, but we’re looking forward to it. It’s a fun group. Toronto’s gonna be rockin’. We love that. The Bronx is rockin’. It’s gonna be fun.”
Initially Revealed: October 2, 2025 at 10:48 PM EDT
