Cam Schlittler’s jewel, Ben Rice’s bat sends the Yankees past the Red Sox without Aaron Judge

It was a dominant performance of the Yankees to win and take the lead in this wild-card series. They had 12 total hits, compared to Boston’s three. Ben Rice went 4-for-5 with two homers and six RBIs as well.

The Yankees weren’t done yet. Ben Rice has just hit a grand slam over the right field wall, and the Yankees now lead 9-0.

After loading the bases, the Red Sox retire Olds. Brayan Bello comes in to try to get out of it, with only one out on the board.

The Red Sox got a double from Trevor Story in the top of the eighth, but no more. They are down to their final three outs and will face a deficit of at least 4-0 entering the ninth.

The Yankees loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the seventh, then sent Spencer Jones home with a single by Ben Rice.

But a double play from pinch-hitter Luis Garcia Jr. contained the Yankees’ threat. The ground ball scored a run but allowed the Red Sox to escape the inning without further damage.

New York takes a 4-0 lead into the eighth, but could have opened the game.

Paul Blackburn did his job.

He induced a late-inning groundout double play from Ceddanne Rafaela, and the Yankees left the top of the seventh with a 2-0 lead intact.

Cam Schlittler’s last line: 6 1/3 innings pitched, 10 strikeouts, 2 hits, 1 walk, 0 runs and 117 pitches.

The end of Cam Schlittler’s day seemed assured when he finished the sixth inning with 107 pitches.

But he came back for the seventh and recorded another takedown. Aaron Boone kept it to try to get another one, but Schlittler gave up a single to Wilyer Abreu. With that, his day finally ended with a career-high 117 pitches.

Paul Blackburn comes out of the bullpen with hopes of getting the final two outs of the frame.

Whoa, Roman Anthony is out of this game for Boston. Andruw Monasterio entered the game for the Boston DH and leader in the sixth. Anthony missed approximately the fourth month of the regular season with a ligament problem in his right ring finger. It’s unclear if his exit is related to this injury, but what a blow for the Red Sox – for tonight’s game, tomorrow’s Game 2 and all contests beyond.

The sixth was another dominant inning for Cam Schlittler, who put the Red Sox in order and capped the frame with two more strikeouts.

He’s at 107 pitches, and his night is almost certainly over. If so, he’ll come away having pitched a gem with 10 strikeouts, 1 hit and 1 walk allowed in six shutout innings. It will be up to New York’s bullpen to maintain a 2-0 lead.

Ben Rice immediately made the Red Sox pay for removing Payton Tolle.

The Yankees slugger threw reliever Erik Miller’s second pitch over the center field wall for a solo shot and a 2-0 New York lead in the fifth inning. Miller left a sinker in the heart of the plate and Rice made him pay.

Miller brought Heliot Ramos out for the third off the frame, but the damage was done.

Cam Schlittler is still working on a shutout, but he doesn’t have much left for this game.

Four Red Sox batters threw 23 pitches at Schlittler in the fifth inning. They only gave up a two-out walk, but Schlittler reached 89 pitches in five innings. The Yankees have a 1-0 lead and will look for insurance as Schlittler nears the end of his outing.

The Yankees plated two runners with no outs and looked poised to extend their lead 1-0 in the fourth.

But with runners on first and second and one out, Red Sox third baseman Caleb Durbin made a remarkable double play. Durbin had a gem on a Spencer Jones blooper that didn’t leave the infield and caught it out of the air between second and third.

George Lombard had started from second place and it was too late when he turned back. Durbin threw him out at second to end the inning and keep New York’s lead at just one run.

It’s another 1-2-3 for Schittler, who is up to 8 strikeouts in 4 innings on 66 pitches. Very good.

Cam Schlittler is going to win the AL Cy Young because he has three distinct fire-breathing fastballs. But tonight, the lanky right-hander is leaning heavily on his curveball.

In three innings, 14 of Schlittler’s 51 pitches were decisive. This usage rate of 27% is the highest of his season. It’s still pretty early, but the Yankees’ pitching approach so far qualifies as a zag.

Schlittler has only allowed one base runner so far. The Yankees lead 1-0.

The Yankees ace is up to six strikeouts in three scoreless innings with just one hit allowed. He’s at 51 pitches, so we’ll see how long he lasts.

The Yankees put runners on first and second with one out, and Austin Wells came through with an RBI single to score George Lombard Jr.

That’s all the damage they’ve done, but the Yankees take a 1-0 lead in the third with Cam Schlittler calling the shots on the mound.

Cam Schlittler brings it in early. He pitched a 1-2-3 second and is now up to four strikeouts in 2 innings. The game remained scoreless in the middle of the second.

Ben Rice hit a one-out double but was stranded at second base. We leave the first round with a goalless draw.

An impressive but laborious first round from Cam Schlittler. The Yankees flamethrower hit 101 mph, posted a zero and struck out three Red Sox. He also needed 22 throws to achieve this.

These 10 pitches at bat from Boston catcher Adley Rutschman perfectly sum up how the Red Sox are approaching New York’s Game 1 starter. Captain Chad Tracy said it the other day: “getting his way at the plate.” You may not be able to pour tons of points on Schlittler, but you can increase his throw count and take him out of the game after five or six frames. The probable AL Cy Young had the second-highest foul rate among qualified pitchers this year.

It’ll be up to Red Sox starter Payton Tolle to keep things tight, but wearing out and waiting for Schlittler isn’t the worst strategy in the world

Rutschman had an easy single for the Red Sox, but that was it. Schlittler struck out two, including Abreu on a challenge to end the inning.

A good start for the Yankees.