Cam Schlittler keeps finding a way to make life miserable for the Red Sox.
On Tuesday night in the Bronx, the Yankees ace opened the Wild Card series by doing what he’s done so often since his major league debut: handling Boston with ease. Schlittler backed up his trash talk with a shutout performance, giving New York exactly the kind of start it wanted in a matchup built around pitching.
The numbers told the story clearly. Schlittler worked 6.1 innings, allowed no runs, struck out 10 and gave up just two hits with one walk. He threw 117 pitches, a career high, and left after Wilyer Abreu singled for Boston’s second hit of the night in the seventh inning.
It was another big playoff night against the Red Sox, even if it didn’t quite match Game 3 of last year’s Wild Card series, when Schlittler threw eight shutout innings. Still, this outing was more than enough to quiet Boston and put New York in front in Game 1.
The pitch count also stood out. His 117 pitches topped the 107 he threw last year in the playoffs against Boston and marked the most pitches by a Yankees pitcher in the playoffs since CC Sabathia in 2012.
Schlittler’s reputation against the Red Sox has grown just as much for his mouth as his arm. He’s become known for talking trash to Boston fans online while continuing to dominate them on the mound, and when Aaron Boone pulled him from the game, the crowd at Yankee Stadium answered with MVP chants.
That closed the book on Schlittler’s final start of the season against Boston, and he never allowed more than one earned run in any of his five appearances against the Red Sox.
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