Former Northeastern University Husky pitcher Cam Schlittler took the mound at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday evening for the first game of the 2026 American League Wild Card Series against his hometown team-turned-rival, the Boston Red Sox.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Schlittler delivered a dominant postseason debut against his hometown team, throwing 6\u2153 scoreless innings while allowing two hits and one walk and striking out 10 on a career-high 117 pitches. He retired 13 consecutive batters after allowing a single in the first inning to Red Sox catcher Adley Rutschman, then opened the seventh inning after giving up a single to Wilyer Abreu. The Yankees went on to beat Boston 9-0, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Schlittler, a native of Walpole, Massachusetts, who played for Northeastern from 2020 to 2022, came into the game as one of the best pitchers in the American League, according to his statistics<\/a>. His regular season ended with a 14-6 record and a 1.95 earned run average (ERA) over 33 starts. In 19 of those appearances, Schlittler allowed one earned run or fewer.<\/p>\n The key to his success has been his unique pitch arsenal, specifically a trio of fastball types that have fooled hitters throughout the 2026 season, according to Mike Glavine, head coach of the Northeastern Huskies and former mentor of the 25-year-old right-handed pitcher. His fastballs, which top out near or above 100 mph and appear to originate from the same spot, deceive hitters when they bend to the left or right at the last moment, Glavine told Northeastern Global News earlier this year.<\/a><\/p>\n The former Husky threw the highest percentage of fastballs in the league across the regular season at 89.2%, according to Baseball Savant<\/a>, MLB\u2019s Statcast data and analytics platform. The pitcher with the next highest number, the Tampa Bay Rays\u2019 Drew Rasmussen, did so just 80.2% of the time.<\/p>\n But Tuesday saw Schlittler mix things up with his curveball, a pitch he relied on far more heavily than usual. He threw 32 curveballs \u2014 roughly 27% of his 117 pitches \u2014 including three of his first five strikeouts, keeping Red Sox hitters off balance as he worked his way through the lineup.<\/p>\n Schlittler\u2019s dominance over the league in 2026 earned him a spot in the midseason All-Star Game, a friendly annual exhibition of talent from outstanding players across the league that does not count toward teams\u2019 season record or statistics. But because he had pitched in a regular game shortly beforehand, he watched the All-Star Game from the dugout and did not throw the ball.<\/p>\n In the days leading up to the Wild Card matchup, Schlittler told members of the media that he was honored to be trusted with the ball for the first game against the Yankees\u2019 rival team.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s special,\u201d he said at a press conference<\/a> on Monday. \u201cBeing able to get that little bit of experience last year in Game 3, it\u2019s a good feeling to go out there and get the first one.\u201d<\/p>\n