5 takeaways as Cam Schlittler, Ben Rice torch Red Sox again in 9-0 Yankees triumph
Boston Red Sox
The local kids were at it again. It’s do-or-die time for Boston.
Entering Tuesday’s matchup with the Yankees, the consensus was that Payton Tolle would have to be terrific to give the Red Sox a chance against mighty righty Cam Schlittler.
Well, Tolle was terrific, but the Red Sox still didn’t stand a chance against the 6’6″ ace and Co. You can’t win if you don’t score, and the Red Sox fell into a familiar pattern as their bats went silent in a disheartening 9-0 loss at Yankee Stadium.
Teams that take a 1-0 lead in best-of-three Wild Card Series are 15-1 since the new format was launched in 2022. Of course, the only team that has defied those odds is the Yankees … against the Red Sox … last year.
This one felt an awful lot like last year, as the Yankees continued to outpitch, outhit, and straight-up outplay the Red Sox.
So yes, things look rather bleak at the moment. It ain’t over yet, with Sonny Gray vs. Max Fried on Wednesday night, but it’s officially do-or-die time.
“I haven’t heard the fat lady sing yet,” Tolle told reporters. “We’re just going to keep going out there. I believe in us.”
Here are five takeaways from the Yankees’ systematic beatdown.
You’re Schlitting me
There’s a reason everyone is in awe of Schlittler’s brilliance. The kid is nasty and has earned every bit of praise he’s received.
By now, you almost certainly know that he grew up in Walpole and attended Northeastern University.
You also likely know that he’s just about a lock for the Cy Young Award and has a chance to win it several times over the next few years.
And if you’re a realistic and somewhat jaded Red Sox fan, you also knew Boston didn’t have much of a chance against Schlittler on Tuesday.
He came out firing early, routinely hitting 101 miles per hour and overpowering the Red Sox right away. They made him work in the first inning, with Adley Rutschman highlighting a 22-pitch inning with a 10-pitch at-bat capped by a single to left.
A Jarren Duran walk in the fifth and a Wilyer Abreu single in the seventh were the Red Sox’ only other base runners against Schlittler. He fanned 12 in eight scoreless innings in Game 3 last year, and this year he struck out 10 in 6 ⅓ scoreless innings.
“He had really good stuff,” said Red Sox manager Chad Tracy. “We weren’t able to do much with him.”
The Red Sox made him work at times, as he needed 117 (77 strikes) pitches to do the job, but they couldn’t generate any momentum against the best of the best.
“He dominated every pitch,” Abreu told reporters. “He made really good pitches. I think we did a really good job taking long at-bats and were able to take him out of the game early, but he pitched well and pitched to our weaknesses. We couldn’t make the adjustments.”
Power of Payton
In his first postseason start, Tolle delivered a performance that would have certainly made his late mother, Jina Tolle, immensely proud.
Tolle went 4 ⅔ innings, allowing five hits and one earned run and striking out four on 83 pitches. After a 20-pitch first inning, Tolle surrendered a run in the second on a single to right from Austin Wells that plated 21-year-old rookie George Lombard Jr.
Wells, who delivered a clutch hit in Game 2 last year, came through again to vault the Yankees ahead.
Tolle responded with a 1-2-3 third with two strikeouts, then celebrated accordingly with Rutschman in the fourth after a timely double play. He looked loose, comfortable, and confident on the mound and proved he belonged.
“I think he competed extremely well for the time that he was out there and gave us what he could,” Tracy said.
He left with two outs in the fifth in a decent spot, all things considered, and provided the Red Sox with a chance – at least in theory.
“As a competitor and a starting pitcher in this league, you want to go as long as you can every time,” Tolle told reporters. “But with what our bullpen has done all year, I believe that they’re going to make the right decision.”
Rice is right
In one sense, the incessant talk about Schlittler hailing from Walpole and Rice hailing from Cohasset is overblown. In another, it is legitimately wild that two local kids are torching the Red Sox as members of the Yankees.
Right after Tolle exited, Rice launched a middle-middle fastball from Erik Miller 423 feet to straightaway center. Initially, it looked like Ceddanne Rafaela might have an outside chance at robbing the home run, but the ball kept going and going until it cleared the fence.
Rice hasn’t fared well against the Red Sox in the regular season, but he now has home runs in two of three postseason games against Boston.
He added an RBI single in the seventh off Alec Gamboa that plated Spencer Jones and extended the margin to 3-0. Rice (4 for 5, 6 RBIs, 2 runs) then smashed a grand slam in the eighth to provide the finishing touches on a dominant individual and collective performance.
Give the kid credit. He’s established himself as one of the best players in baseball and could end up as one of the best Yankees of this generation. The Red Sox simply don’t have a clutch power bat like that.
“It’s so cool,” Rice said on NBC. “This is what you dream about, Yankees-Red Sox playoff game in New York. There’s nothing better. It’s so much fun.”
Rocky Roman
Roman Anthony struck out twice against Schlittler, then Andruw Monasterio hit for him in the sixth inning after Anthony seemingly reaggravated the right wrist injury that sidelined him for most of the season.
“The hand,” Tracy said. “He took a check swing, and then another swing, and his hand flared on him and it got uncomfortable, so we had to make a move there.”
Anthony flexed his hand during an at-bat in the second inning Sunday against the Cubs. He had his right hand wrapped before Tuesday’s game and looked out of rhythm at the plate before exiting.
“We’ll see what the next steps are, but yeah, it’s difficult,” Tracy said.
Unraveling late
The game was closer than the final score indicates, but it wasn’t all that dramatic after Rice’s home run.
The Red Sox lineup briefly showed signs of life in the seventh when Abreu singled and Paul Blackburn replaced Schlittler, but Rafaela immediately grounded into a double play to end the mini threat.
Then the Yankees scored two in the seventh, with Rice doing most of the heavy lifting. A slick double play from Nick Sogard kept it at 4-0, yet the damage had been done.
Trevor Story doubled in the eighth for the Red Sox’ third hit, then Wells drove in Lombard Jr. with a sacrifice fly in the eighth and Rice pulverized a Brayan Bello pitch to seal it. Then, to no one’s surprise, Boston went quietly in the ninth.
The Yankees are the better team, and they proved it Tuesday night.
The Red Sox will always have the summer surge, but that may be all they have unless they find some magic Wednesday and Thursday nights.
“We’ve been here before,” Tolle said. “We’re just going to keep fighting and punch back tomorrow.”
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