Ben Rice and Cam Schlittler Turn Yankees–Red Sox Into a Nightmare for Boston

“If you are what you say you are…”

In New York, you can very easily become a Superstar, but they often say you don’t truly earn your pinstripes until you do it in the playoffs. Last year, Ben Rice was an inexperienced up-and-down player during his first postseason with the Yankees, with only four hits in an entire playoff run as one of Aaron Judge’s running mates who couldn’t get going. In 2026, Rice kicked off his playoff run as the main guy in the Yankees lineup with no Judge during this wild card round.

Cam Schlittler, despite his strong effort, was the final starting pitcher of the New York Yankees’ 2025 season, getting a loss in the Yankees’ decisive Game 4 Loss. Their response? Four for five with six RBIs and two HRs, including a grand slam and yet another display of pitching dominance to push the dagger fully into the heart of the Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of this Wild Card series, putting their biggest rivals to the sword.

Benny Barrels

Ben Rice’s four hits were 110.3 MPH, 108 MPH, 106.4 MPH, and 108.6 MPH. His two home runs were gone in 29/30 Parks and 26/30 Parks. Rice absolutely mashed the ball Tuesday Night; zero of his four hits were cheapies, and both of his home runs were absolute bombs.

Rice, for his first couple of years, was the guy who hit the ball very well but didn’t have the results to show for it. This year, in the absence of The Captain, Aaron Judge, for a majority of the year, he had every result you could possibly ask for.

With a 41-home run season and a .897 OPS, Rice was every bit the Prince that was Promised, keeping the Yankees’ offense afloat without Judge. When Judge wasn’t listed as a member of the Wild Card roster, a large amount of the pressure that was on Rice multiplied tenfold. Rice’s response to that pressure is the stuff of Yankee legends, and it becomes much sweeter when you see “Boston Red Sox” on the other side of the box score.

“Drinking dat dirty water” Again.

Public Enemy #1 in Boston is Cam Schlittler, and once again, Boston finds themselves a victim of Schlittler. It was just last year when the man who grew up a Red Sox fan took the mound in a win-or-go-home postseason matchup and ended Boston’s season with an 8 IP, 12 K shutout masterclass. This year? Boston walked into Game 1 to face their old foe once again… and once again they were absolutely silenced.

Schlittler threw the most pitches by a Yankee starter in the playoffs since CC Sabathia in 2012 with 117 pitches, and once again shut the Red Sox out and struck out 10 through 6.1 IP. Schlittler’s career numbers against Boston have now gone to an insanely impressive 0.47 ERA with 49 Ks in 38.2 IP. Schlittler has entirely leaned into being the villain in this rivalry, and Red Sox’s fans will once again see the boogeyman in their nightmares if the Yankees can send the Sox home for the 2nd straight year, and the future AL CY Young winner will enjoy “Drinking dat dirty water”.