NEW YORK – A fourth-inning blitz and a 6-foot-6 beast of a rookie were all the New York Yankees needed to finally conquer their heated rivals in an elimination game.
Cam Schlittler, touching 98 to 100 mph on 64 of his 107 pitches, blasted through a largely overmatched Boston Red Sox lineup to strike out 12 and toss eight shutout innings, and a four-run rally started by a well-placed bloop double gave him more than enough support as the Yankees defeated the Red Sox 4-0 in the decisive Game 3 of their American League wild-card series Oct. 2.
The Yankees advance to the AL Division Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, beginning Oct. 4 at Rogers Centre as they aim to vanquish two division rivals on their path to defending their pennant.
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They won 94 games this season, five more than Boston and as many as Toronto, yet had to take the long, difficult and ultimately historic path to advancing out of this best-of-three series.
In the four-year history of this format, the 14 teams that won Game 1 went on to win the series, with the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs taking care of business in their Game 3s by the time the first pitch was thrown at Yankee Stadium.
But the Yankees fell 3-1 in Game 1 and battled back for a 4-3 victory in Game 2, setting up this clash of rookies in the finale.
And it was taut, and tension-filled – for the first three innings.
Schlittler, who set a Yankees rookie record for strikeouts in a playoff start, and Red Sox lefty Connelly Early were equally on point, each striking out five through three innings, a relief to their managers after a pair of late-night bullpen wars in the first two games. But when Cody Bellinger skied a fly between a trio of Red Sox fielders in shallow right center field, Yankee Stadium thrummed with energy to start the bottom of the fourth.
Early’s most crucial mistake came next – a walk to Giancarlo Stanton, which preceded consecutive singles by Amed Rosario, Jazz Chisholm and Anthony Volpe to give New York a 2-0 lead.
The game was all but iced a batter later, when Austin Wells yanked a hard-hit ball right at Boston first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. He could not make the short-hop pick, and the ball ricocheted into right field. Two more runs, and a 4-0 advantage that Schlittler never put in jeopardy.
When he came back out for the top of the eighth inning, the crowd roared in approval – and got even louder when he struck out Romy Gonzalez to start the inning. It reached a crescendo when he induced a groundout of Trevor Story to end the eighth – retreating to a series of high fives from his dugout.
A scoreless ninth from David Bednar ended it and halted the Red Sox’s three-game streak of elimination game triumphs over New York, beginning with the gutting 2004 ALCS Game 7 loss, continuing with the 2018 ALDS and the 2021 wild-card game.
This time, there’d be no Boston magic – just third baseman Ryan McMahon going head-over-heels to snare a foul pop from Jarren Duran and secure the second out in the eighth.
As he flipped over, his No. 19 was exposed for all the world to see – the same number Aaron Boone wore in 2003 ALCS Game 7, when his home run sent Boston home for the winter.
Now, the demons of their past three meetings have been exorcised – and the Yankees, once again, will play on.
– Gabe Lacques
Cam Schlittler tosses eight scoreless innings
With a 4-0 lead, Aaron Boone made a surprise decision to bring Cam Schlittler back out for the eighth and the rookie rewarded his manager, getting through the inning on just seven pitches. He added his 12th strikeout of the night and third baseman Ryan McMahon made an unbelievable grab falling into the Red Sox dugout to catch a foul ball.
Cam Schlitter becoming Yankees legend?
The Yankees are six outs from advancing to the ALDS as Cam Schlittler has allowed five hits and no runs, while striking out 11 and no walks on 100 pitches through six innings.
The last time the Yankees blew a four-run lead in the postseason was Game 5 of the 2024 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, a game they lost 7-6, which handed the Dodgers the championship.
Schlittler’s 11 strikeouts are the most by a Yankees rookie pitcher in a postseason game.
Yankees break open game in fourth inning
Two Boston outfielders and the second baseman failed to catch a high pop-up to center by Cody Bellinger, allowing him to end up with a leadoff double. Amed Rosario plated the game’s first run with a single to left, and Anthony Volpe’s bases-loaded single to right scored another run.
Austin Wells then chopped a ball to first that was mishandled by Nathaniel Lowe, scoring two more for a 4-0 New York lead, ending the night of Red Sox starter Connelly Early. The rookie went 3 ⅔ innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts and one walk in 78 pitches. Early was replaced by reliever Justin Slaten, who hit Aaron Judge with a pitch to load the bases but got Cody Bellinger to fly out and end the inning after 10 Yankees came to the plate.
Yankees waste Giancarlo Stanton’s leadoff double
Giancarlo Stanton got the bottom of the second started with a leadoff double to deep left, but the Yankees couldn’t capitalize, as Ben Rice struck out swinging on a filthy sweeper, Amed Rosario popped out to center and Jazz Chisholm Jr. struck out looking.
Connelly Early makes quick work of Yankees in first
Connelly Early, the 23-year-old starter for the Red Sox, started by quickly striking out Trent Grisham on five pitches. Aaron Judge then flew out to center, and Cody Bellinger grounded out to shortstop on consecutive pitches. Very efficient start for Early.
Nothing doing for Red Sox in first inning
Yankees starter Cam Schlittler took the hill on a 60-degree night and didn’t look like a rookie in the first inning, getting leadoff hitter Jarren Duran to line out to second, before Trevor Story popped out and Alex Bregman ended the inning by striking out looking.
Bucky Dent throws first pitch at Yankee Stadium
Red Sox lineup today
Jarren Duran (L) LF
Trevor Story (R) SS
Alex Bregman (R) 3B
Masataka Yoshida (L) DH
Ceddanne Rafaela (R) CF
Nathaniel Lowe (L) 1B
Carlos Narváez (R) C
Wilyer Abreu (L) RF
Romy Gonzalez (R) 2B
Yankees lineup today
Trent Grisham (L) CF
Aaron Judge (R) RF
Cody Bellinger (L) LF
Giancarlo Stanton (R) DH
Ben Rice (L) 1B
Amed Rosario (R) 3B
Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L) 2B
Anthony Volpe (R) SS
Austin Wells (L) C
Connelly Early is Red Sox starting pitcher
NEW YORK — Who is Connelly Early, you ask?
He’s less than a month removed from his major league debut, which came Sept. 9, which was just a little more than a year since he was toiling for the Class A Greenville (S.C.) Drive in the South Atlantic League.
And now? A win-or-go-home game, before nearly 50,000 in Yankee Stadium, barely two years removed from the University of Virginia.
Nervous, kid?
‘Let’s go. Let’s do it,’ Early said after the Red Sox suffered a 4-3 loss in Game 2, and roughly a couple minutes after pitching coach Andrew Bailey told him it was his ball for Game 3.
– Gabe Lacques
Jarren Duran
Jarren Duran tries to get over Game 2 misplay
NEW YORK — Technically, Jarren Duran was not charged with an error on Aaron Judge’s fifth-inning fly to left that he came in on, dove for and then, simply, dropped. Catching it would’ve ended the inning, kept the score tied 2-2, and Trevor Story’s homer the next inning would’ve given Boston the lead, rather than tie it.
The final four innings had enough drama that Duran’s semi-muff got largely forgotten. Duran will have a lot more trouble turning the page.
“This one’s going to sting a little bit. I know this game is 100% on me,” Duran said. “Trevor hits the homer, we take the lead. I messed it up, gave them momentum. But that one’s on me. I’m going to have to wear that one.
“I’m excited to play tomorrow and redeem myself.”
– Gabe Lacques