BOSTON — A sold-out Fenway Park gave Cam Schlittler a mixed reception Thursday night. Death threats had poured in. Red Sox social media had done its worst. And 36,565 fans were waiting to remind the Walpole, Mass., native exactly how they felt about the kid who had broken their hearts the previous October.
He gave them eight innings to think about it.
The New York Yankees completed a three-game sweep of their fiercest division rival with a 4-2 victory, riding Schlittler’s career-best outing and a pair of historical footnotes to their sixth straight win and a 16-9 record.
Schlittler turns his homecoming into a statement
The noise surrounding Schlittler’s return to Boston had been building for days. He had faced death threats before the start, a continuation of online hostilities that began after his eight-inning shutout in Game 3 of last year’s AL wild-card series, which ended the Red Sox season. Schlittler said he viewed most of it as trolling and did not feel police involvement was warranted.
On Thursday, he answered it all on the mound.
Schlittler went a career-high eight innings, allowing two runs, only one earned, on four hits with five strikeouts and one walk. He lowered his ERA to 1.77 in what manager Aaron Boone called “an ace-like performance.” It was the longest outing in 20 regular-season starts for the 25-year-old right-hander, surpassing his previous high and cementing his place as one of the game’s most reliable arms in 2026.
“I didn’t think the emotions were too high,” Schlittler said after the game. “It was a fun experience to come here, growing up around here, and being able to go throw. Great experience and just glad the boys got the sweep.”
The unearned run came in the second inning, when a throwing error by shortstop Jose Caballero allowed Trevor Story to reach, and Marcelo Mayer plated him with an RBI double. Boston added a second run in the fifth on a solo home run from Carlos Narvaez, his first of the year. After that, Schlittler found a rhythm and refused to let the Red Sox threaten again.
Bellinger pinch hit breaks a 59-year drought
For six innings, the Yankees offense hit a wall. Boston rookie Payton Tolle, called up from Triple-A Worcester, was making his first major-league appearance of the season and turned Fenway Park into a strikeout showcase. He fanned 11 batters, including five of the first six Yankees hitters he faced, and allowed just one run in six innings of work.
The lone damage came in the fifth when Jazz Chisholm Jr., looking for his first home run of 2026, went low and inside on a 95 mph fastball and sent a 333-foot shot curling around the Pesky Pole in right field to tie the game at 1-1. It was the shortest home run of Chisholm’s big league career.
Tolle exhausted his pitch count and exited after six, leaving a 2-1 Red Sox lead. That is when the Yankees, as they have done repeatedly this season, pounced.
After Danny Coulombe took over and loaded the bases on three consecutive singles in the seventh, Cody Bellinger stepped in as a pinch hitter with the Yankees trailing. He drove a two-run single off former Yankee Greg Weissert, scoring Trent Grisham and Chisholm to give New York a 3-2 advantage.
The Yankees had not recorded a go-ahead pinch hit while trailing at Fenway Park since Elston Howard turned that trick on April 23, 1967, exactly 59 years to the day. Aaron Judge then followed with an RBI single to push the lead to 4-2 and give the Yankees the cushion they needed.
Reflecting on what it took to beat a pitcher as sharp as Tolle, Jazz Chisholm offered praise for Schlittler while putting the night in perspective. “He has that F-you attitude, like Carlos [Rodon] and Gerrit [Cole] that everybody loves and everybody adores when you’re playing behind him,” Chisholm said. “So I think it’s pretty cool to see him go out there and do his thing, especially in his home city.”
Yankees make history in Boston after 25 years
David Bednar closed the door with a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his seventh save in eight chances, wrapping up a series in which the Yankees held the Red Sox to just three total runs and 13 hits across three games.
It marked the fewest runs the Yankees had allowed in a series at Fenway Park since 2001, when they held Boston to just two runs. It was only the third time in franchise history the Yankees gave up three runs or fewer in a three-game sweep at Fenway.
New York completed its first three-game sweep at Fenway Park since September 2021, and it also marked the first time the Yankees had back-to-back outings of at least eight innings from their starters since May 2022, with Max Fried delivering eight shutout frames the night before.
Boone credited the rivalry context while keeping perspective on Boston’s situation. “Wins are precious any time of year, especially within the division,” he said. “I know the Red Sox are scuffling a little bit to start the season right now, but we know they have a really good club and we know they’re going to get going.”
The Red Sox dropped to 9-16 and sit in last place in the American League East, now seven games behind the Yankees. Boston has lost seven of its last 10 games.
New York sits at 16-9 with a 2.5-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays atop the AL East. The Yankees take their winning streak on the road Friday, with right-hander Will Warren (2-0, 2.49 ERA) starting in Houston against Lance McCullers Jr.
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