New York Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler sent a message to his family minutes before he took the mound against the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series.
The Yankees turned to the rookie pitcher in a do-or-die Game 3. Schlitter is from Massachusetts, and his family grew up Red Sox fans. But with Schlittler now in New York, his family has become Yankees fans.
Ahead of Game 3, Schlittler says he sent a text message to his family to remind them not to let any comments from fans bug them.
“I texted my family 20 minutes before the game,” Schlittler said, via ESPN in a piece published on Wednesday. “I said, like, ‘Hey, this is postseason baseball. It doesn’t matter that we’re from Boston. They’re going to get under your skin. Just don’t answer. Stay away from it. Don’t give them an edge. We’ll handle it after the game, whatever. And I’ll go kick their ass.'”
Schlittler ended up having a dominant performance as he went eight scoreless innings, while striking out 12 en route to a Yankees win.
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It was a stellar performance from Schlittler, who will get the ball again on Wednesday in a pivotal Game 4 of the ALDS series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Yankees are down 2-1 in the series, and New York will need Schlittler to have another great performance to send the series to a winner-take-all Game 5 on Friday.
Featured image via Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images
