Yankees On Brink Of Playoff Elimination After Rookie’s Historic Start

The New York Yankees eliminated the Boston Red Sox behind an overpowering performance from rookie starting pitcher Cam Schlittler. On Sunday, an even greener newcomer made history on the mound.

New York is on life support following a 13-7 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, who took a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five American League Division Series matchup. Trey Yesavage dominated the Yankees in just his fourth career MLB appearance.

Yesavage, who made his major league debut on Sept. 15, held the Yankees hitless over 5 1/3 innings. The 22-year-old compiled 11 strikeouts to one walk in a blowout win at the Rogers Centre.

Sportsnet Stats noted that no starting pitcher had even begun a playoff game with 11 strikeouts over five hitless innings. Yesvagae also set a franchise record for most punchouts in a playoff game.

Yesavage induced 18 swinging strikes in 78 pitches, collecting eight strikeouts on a lethal splitter. The right-hander credited the home fans in a post-game interview with Fox Sports reporter Ken Rosenthal.

“When I was out there, I could feel the energy from the crowd, and I just knew something was going to happen,” Yesavage said. “I didn’t know it was going to be all that.”

Yesavage allowed five runs in 14 innings for the Blue Jays before Sunday’s masterpiece. His dazzling playoff debut marked the first time he recorded an out past the fifth inning since May 1.

As a result, the Blue Jays pulled him with a no-hitter in the sixth. By that point, Toronto jumped to a 12-0 lead behind home runs from Ernie Clement, Daulton Varsho and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

The Yankees scored seven runs off Toronto’s bullpen in the sixth and seventh, but Louis Varland and Seranthony Dominguez stopped the bleeding to avoid an all-time collapse.

The series heads to New York, where the Yankees must win twice to force a winner-take-all Game 5. Game 3 starts Tuesday at 8:08 p.m. ET on FS1.