BOSTON — After receiving online death threats from Red Sox fans in the last week, Yankees pitcher/suburban Boston native Cam Schlittler expected the worst Thursday night when he pitched in Fenway Park for the first time as a big leaguer.
There were a few hecklers when he warmed up in the bullpen, but Schlittler was happy to see most everyone behaving.
“Not too bad,” he said. “I think you underestimate how many genuine people are out there compared to online, so it’s a good feeling.”
A better feeling was sticking it to the Red Sox again.
Pitching a 40-minute drive from his childhood home in Walpole, Mass., Schlittler was almost as good as his historically great postseason start against Boston last October at Yankee Stadium, eight shutout innings with 12 strikeouts in Game 3 of a best-of-three Wild Card Series.
This time, Schlittler allowed two runs, one earned, over eight innings in a 4-2 Yankees victory, completing a three-game sweep of the Red Sox and extending their winning streak to six games.
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What stood out most about Schlittler?
The best quote in the Yankees clubhouse chimed in to answer that question.
“He has that F-you attitude like Carlos (Rodon) and Gerrit (Cole) that everybody loves and everybody kind of adores when you’re playing behind him,” second baseman Jazz Chisholm said. “So I think it’s pretty cool to see him go out there and just do his thing, especially in his home city.”
OFF THE SCHNEID
Twenty-five games into the Yankees’ season, Chisholm finally hit a home run when he tied up Thursday’s game 1-1 in the fifth inning with a flyball to right that stayed inside the Pesky pole and dropped into the seats about two or three rows deep.
Chisholm said he’s been more concerned about his low batting average than not hitting for power early in the season.
“I wouldn’t say home runs were on my mind,” said Chisholm, who is batting .188 after a 2-for-4 night. “I would say hits. I know I tend to have a little couple problems early in the season, but at the end of the day it feels good to finally get one.”
After hitting 31 homers and stealing 31 bases last season, Chisholm’s goal for this season is a next-to-impossible one, join Shohei Ohtani in the 50/50 club.
He’s on pace for 52 steals with eight in nine tries so far, but still 49 homers away.
Chisholm hit No. 1 after deciding to stand a little further from the plate for Thursday’s game.
“I was still pulling off a little bit,” he said. “That’s why I was kind of flaring them to left field instead of hitting them to left field, so I just backed off a little bit.”
50/30 FOR JUDGE?
Aaron Judge said in spring training that he wants to steal more bases this season and he’s up to five in five tries after swiping second base in Wednesday’s game.
The 6-foot-7 slugger had 12 steals in 17 attempts last season and a career-high 16 in 19 tries in 2022, but is on pace for 32 this year.
What is Judge’s potential? He has hit 50-plus homers four times in his first full nine seasons, including an AL record 62 in ’22.
Could he become the first 60/30 player?
“What number is it? You never know just because it’s always situation dependent,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Things have to cooperate, pitcher-catcher, situation in the game. He’s definitely capable (but), we’re trying to pick our spots when we can.”
RED SOX HONOR YANKEE
It’s rare for an opposing player to be honored in a Yankees-Red Sox game. Exceptions include the Red Sox paying tribute to Derek Jeter before his last game at Fenway and the Yankees doing the same for David Ortiz prior to his final game in the Bronx.
Another exception was Thursday night when cancer survivor and Yankees reliever Tim Hill was presented the 2025 Tony Conigliaro Award by the Red Sox.
The award, which was established in 1990, honors a “major leaguer who has overcome adversity through the attributes of spirit, determination and courage.”
Conigliaro was a star right fielder for the Red Sox when he was hit in the face by a pitch during the 1967 season. He missed the entire 1968 season before returning in ’69.
In March 2015, Hill was 25 and a Royals minor leaguer when he was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, the same disease that took his father’s life in 2007. The left-hander lost 70 pounds during eight months of chemotherapy but returned to pitching in 2016 and in the big leagues in 2018.
Being named a Conigliaro Award winner touched Hill.
“I’m definitely appreciative and I read up on Tony’s story and his career,” he said.
Hill doesn’t have a trophy room at his San Diego home, but the big one that he received before Thursday’s game would be displayed in a prominent place.
“This one’s cool,” he said. “It’s inspirational. It’ll go right in the living room.”
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