The Red Sox have been shut out for consecutive games for the first time since September 2023.<\/p>\n
As for those other items of immense interest: Heading into a doubleheader Saturday, the Yankees lead the Red Sox by three games in the standings<\/a>. The season series is tied, 5-5, with three games to go \u2014 so whichever club wins two more clinches the tiebreaker (should they finish with the same overall record).<\/p>\n Get 108 Stitches<\/p>\n Receive the Globe’s best reporting and commentary on the Red Sox every weekday.<\/p>\n And by virtue of their place atop the American League wild-card standings<\/a>, the Yankees at the moment would host the best-of-three Wild Card Series against the Red Sox \u2014 just like last year.<\/p>\n If the Sox can get into that top spot, all three games would be at Fenway Park.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s important; I won\u2019t shy away from that,\u201d interim manager Chad Tracy said before the game. \u201cIf you have a short series in the playoffs and you\u2019re able to play in front of your home crowd \u2026 it could be fun to play in front of your home crowd. But it\u2019s a home-field advantage when you\u2019re playing at home for most people.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t for us for a while, but it has been lately. If you get a short series, you\u2019re able to play in your home ballpark, that stuff matters for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n The Sox\u2019 last best scoring chance came in the seventh, when they had runners on second and third with one out and Willson Contreras due up against Paul Blackburn.\u00a0<\/p>\n Contreras lofted a 262-foot fly ball to left field, where Cody Bellinger made a routine catch \u2014 and a less than routine throw. His 99.7-miles-per-hour heave to the plate was in time to get Ceddanne Rafaela for an inning-ending double play.<\/p>\n In five career games against the Red Sox, Schlittler owns a 0.56 ERA, surrendering just two earned runs in 32\u2153 innings.<\/p>\n But the former Northeastern hurler was not his most dominant self, matching his career high with five walks, all to the bottom of the lineup. He issued a free pass to Caleb Durbin twice, Mickey Gasper twice, and Anthony Seigler once.<\/p>\n But Schlittler also struck out eight, including Nick Sogard looking at a cutter in the fifth inning for the 200th of his season \u2014 in just 162\u2153 innings.<\/p>\n He became the fourth Yankee to reach the 200-strikeout threshold at age 25 or younger, joining Luis Severino, Al Downing, and Bob Turley. He also became just the second pitcher drafted and signed by the Yankees to hit that number \u2014 at any age \u2014 alongside Ron Guidry.<\/p>\n The Sox had their chances early, including on Durbin and Gasper\u2019s back-to-back one-out walks in the second, and Wilyer Abreu\u2019s two-out double in the third. Neither situation yielded runs.<\/p>\n In the fifth, Seigler led off with a walk and Ceddanne Rafaela smacked a single up the middle to give the Sox their best opportunity yet: two on, one out.<\/p>\n But when Abreu lined out to center fielder Trent Grisham, Rafaela was way off the first-base bag. Grisham threw to second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., whose relay to first beat Rafaela, doubling him off and ending the inning.<\/p>\n On Schlitter\u2019s way out, with two down in the sixth, the Sox had one more chance, loading the bases with two outs against lefthanded reliever Brent Headrick. Tracy deployed a line change, subbing out Gasper for Jahmai Jones (walk), Jarren Duran for Eli White (infield single), and Seigler for Andruw Monasterio. Monasterio lined out to medium-depth right field.<\/p>\n Throughout, Red Sox lefthander Patrick Sandoval did his piece. He mostly cruised through 5\u2153 innings and seemed to run out of gas late, when he fought Austin Wells and Paul Goldschmidt for a combined 16 pitches in the fifth inning, and allowed three of four batters to reach in the sixth.<\/p>\n Overall, Sandoval scattered three hits and four walks and held the Yankees to one run, on Goldschmidt\u2019s homer in the third. Duran, in left field, didn\u2019t even turn to watch the 430-foot shot into the bleachers.<\/p>\n Tim Healey can be reached at timothy.healey@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @timbhealey<\/a>.<\/p>\n