“Beating the Red Sox was personal for me”

If the New York Yankees were able to win a first playoff series against the Boston Red Sox since 2003, it was thanks in part to the performance of their electrifying young pitcher Cam Schlittler.

And let's just say that the 24-year-old had extra motivation, as the Massachusetts native declared that beating the Red Sox was personal for him after fans lashed out at him.

There's a line they crossed a little bit. I'm a competitor. I went out there to make sure I put them out.

And that's exactly what he did, completely muzzling the Bas Rouges and their fans.

https://twitter.com/BryanHoch/status/1973956668267606404

Indeed, the rookie pitcher had the outing of his life, pitching eight innings without allowing a run. Schlittler allowed just five hits and recorded twelve strikeouts to no walks, throwing 107 pitches.

All this after Schlittler started the 2025 campaign at Double-A level before being promoted to AAA in June. Then, the Bombardiers recalled the tall, six-foot-five right-hander on July 9 to replace Clarke Schmidt, who suffered a season-ending elbow injury.

Schlittler's performance enabled the New York Yankees to become the first team to win a best-of-three Wild Card series after losing the first meeting since the format was introduced.

Schlittler is now expected to be on the mound for Game 4 of the Division Series between New York and the Toronto Blue Jays. He will then attempt to redeem his only poor start of the season on September 5, when he gave the Jays four earned runs in just one and two-thirds innings of work.

This content was created with the help of AI.