After Game 2 of the Wild Card Series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, Jazz Chisholm made it clear that his benching in Game 1 had no lingering effects.
“There was never a problem between me and Aaron Boone. He’s been my manager all year and I’ve stood behind him all year. We always have disagreements—I mean, I played third base this year and we had a little bit of a disagreement in that—but at the end of the day, I always stand with Boonie because he understands where I come from. He knows I’m a passionate player and he knows I wear my feelings on my sleeve. He knows that I’m here to compete,” Chisholm told the media.
Game 3, however, was all about the rookies — and it turned out to be a historic night.
“Not to mention an unprecedented one. This will be Early’s fifth career appearance, including playoffs, and Schlittler’s 15th. It’ll be the first game in postseason history between two starters each making their 15th career appearance or fewer (regular season and postseason combined),” MLB.com’s Ian Browne wrote.
Yankees rookie Cam Schlittler was absolutely dominant, delivering a postseason debut for the ages — and making MLB history in the process.
“Cam Schlittler of the Yankees is the first pitcher in MLB history to have 12+ strikeouts in a winner-take-all postseason game. He did it as a rookie in his postseason debut,” Opta Stats posted.
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After the game, Schlittler shared what fueled his standout performance.
“People from Boston had a lot to say before the game,” Schlittler said. “For me, just being a silent killer, being able to go out there and shut them down. … I’m from Boston. I didn’t like some of the things they were saying today. I was just making sure I was going out there and extra locked in.”
The rookie delivered in a massive way, and his historic outing is sure to be remembered within the Yankees organization for a long time. Schlittler was nearly untouchable on Thursday night. Performances like his are rare — and there may never be another quite like it again.
