00:00Joel Sherman with 3Up. I'm trying to get this done quick. I've got to get on a plane to Toronto this morning.
00:06And I've got to get on a plane to Toronto for a lot of reasons. But the biggest one is Cam Schlittler.
00:12After the game last night, why don't we start here at number one for three things.
00:17I saw Garrett Cole in the celebration, drenched in beer and champagne.
00:22And I just said to him, I said, what was it like to watch your younger self?
00:26Remember, when the Yankees lose Cole in spring training, that's devastating.
00:32And Rodon and Freed really carried the rotation this year.
00:36And they pitched games one and two of this series.
00:38And I'll go back and say on July 31st, we all thought the Yankees were going to find a way to get a starting pitcher, right?
00:43They couldn't just keep relying on Will Warren to get to 30-plus starts.
00:48He got there.
00:49Luis Hill to come back successfully from a four-month injury.
00:52He did that.
00:52But most of all, could they really trust Cam Schlittler, who they had just called up from the minors,
00:56wasn't really on the big prospect radar before the season, which we should think a lot about big prospect radar moving forward.
01:04But they believed in Schlittler.
01:06They kept saying there's nobody out there with stuff as good as Cam Schlittler.
01:10And he's just been getting better and brilliant and never more so than on a Thursday night at Yankee Stadium.
01:18No Yankee pitcher had thrown eight shutout innings in the postseason since Roger Clemens in Game 2 of the Subway Series in 2000 against the Mets.
01:28He didn't walk anybody.
01:29He struck out 12.
01:31He threw – everything was a career high.
01:32Innings, 107 pitches.
01:35He was calm.
01:36He was poised.
01:38It was impressive in the moment because now you look at it and think, wow, the Yankees have three pretty good starters going round and round for the postseason.
01:48I thought a lot this postseason if the Phillies had Zach Wheeler and the Yankees had Garrett Cole, those are the two teams that are going to get to the World Series.
01:55Neither has it.
01:56The Yankees have advanced.
01:58The Phillies are in the next round.
01:59They got the bye.
02:00Maybe they're on a collision course anyway.
02:03But Cam Schlittler from the Yankee minor league system has been Garrett Cole down the stretch and now through Game 1, his first ever postseason appearance.
02:13And it allowed the Yankees to move on.
02:16And I thought it was interesting.
02:17Aaron Boone, who always seems at this time of year, he can't wait to get into the lanes of the bullpen they talk about in the afternoon before a game.
02:25He stuck with his starter.
02:27The lane was the Boston lineup for Cam Schlittler.
02:30Nobody was giving him that much trouble.
02:33He only gave up multiple hits in one inning.
02:36He only had, so therefore, a runner in scoring position in one inning.
02:40It was a complete dominance.
02:42Number two, let's say something just for moving forward.
02:47Schlittler also helped save the bullpen for a lot of it for Game 1 against Toronto.
02:54Again, on paper, you're thinking, going into this game, hey, if Schlittler could give him four or five, that would be a really good effort.
03:02Keep him in the game.
03:04And then the Yankees were going to have to pour out the bullpen.
03:06And remember, Fernando Cruz and Devin Williams worked in Games 1 and 2.
03:11They didn't in three.
03:12Now, both warmed up.
03:13And the Yankees take that into account for workload.
03:16Bednar pitched in Game 3.
03:17But they didn't have to use anyone long.
03:21And, you know, the preview for this would be that, you know, going up to Toronto, it's going to be either Luis Heal or Will Warren.
03:29And my suspicion, maybe it shouldn't be after the way Schlittler pitched last night, as the Yankees will have to use some guys we haven't seen yet.
03:36Like, you know, Leiter Jr. or Camilo Duvall, just to not be on the same relievers every game.
03:45But those guys didn't get abused.
03:48It was a little bit.
03:48Boston in Game 1 went directly.
03:50Garrett Crochet or Aroldis Chapman.
03:52And I thought that set them up brilliantly for the last two games of this series because their bullpen wouldn't be taxed.
04:00And it wasn't.
04:02But it was the Yankees who were able to get through this without blowing out their bullpen in Game 3, which sets them up somewhat better for Game 1.
04:11For No. 3, why don't we just discuss how the Yankees won this game and won this series, aside from starting pitching, which was uniformly good for them.
04:22The Red Sox were the bad defensive team in this series.
04:25The Yankees were the good defensive team in this series.
04:28None more so than in the final inning by Schlittler, the eighth inning last night.
04:34That is a highlight you'll see forever play by Ryan McMahon.
04:38Not only having the talent, but the fortitude to go hard after that ball and sprawling headfirst into the Red Sox dugout.
04:47That was a great play.
04:48The Yankees' defense was way better than Boston.
04:51Boston did a lot of gifting for the Yankees' four runs yesterday.
04:55And those four runs were scored without the Yankees getting a ball over the fence.
04:59The Yankees just advanced in a series where Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton did not hit a homer.
05:05And that is, to me, big.
05:07They found a way to get through this.
05:09This was defense and pitching as much as anything else that got them through.
05:13These were some of the things that unplugged them last year before they could get a parade, especially in the World Series.
05:19They get to the World Series.
05:21Remember, they beat two inferior A.O. Central teams.
05:24This was a step up in class.
05:26The Red Sox were the kind of team they hadn't beaten during the Judge Boone era.
05:31They beat them.
05:32And the defense is going to be important.
05:35Any Yankee fan who watched all year knows the Blue Jays put the ball in play.
05:40Nobody strikes out less than the Blue Jays.
05:42You have to be tight, especially on the turf up in Toronto.
05:46But the Yankees are getting there because of defense, ability to find a way to win without home runs,
05:53some really good relief pitching by that three-man unit in particular, Cruz, Devin Williams, and David Bednar.
06:01But, man, they're getting there because on a Thursday night in the Bronx, Cam Schlittler looked an awful lot like Garrett Cole.
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