Schlittler and Rice shut out Red Sox 9-0 in Wild Card opener

Cam Schlittler struck out 10 and Ben Rice drove in six runs as the Yankees shut out the Red Sox 9-0 on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium, leaving Boston one loss from elimination in the American League Wild Card Series. Rice went 4-for-5 with two home runs, including an eighth-inning grand slam that finished a game Boston had kept within reach through six innings.

Schlittler held the Red Sox to two hits and one walk over 6⅓ innings, throwing 117 pitches. Boston finished with three hits against the Yankees' pitching staff and never scored. The Walpole, Massachusetts, native again stopped the team he grew up near after throwing eight shutout innings against Boston in the deciding game of last year's Wild Card Series.

Payton Tolle gave the Red Sox a chance in his first postseason start. He allowed five hits and one run over 4⅔ innings, with four strikeouts and one walk. Austin Wells' two-out single in the second brought home George Lombard Jr. for the game's first run. Tolle exited with two outs and nobody on base in the fifth; manager Chad Tracy brought in left-hander Erik Miller to face Rice.

Rice homered to center off Miller to make it 2-0. His seventh-inning single added another run, and Luis García Jr.'s ground ball brought home Wells as New York stretched the lead to four. The Yankees then scored five times in the eighth, with Rice's grand slam supplying four of those runs. Rice, who grew up in Cohasset, and Schlittler supplied most of the damage against their hometown club.

Boston also left Game 1 with a health concern. Roman Anthony departed after two at-bats because of soreness in his right hand and wrist, the same area that had kept him out for nearly four months. MLB.com's Ian Browne reported that his availability for Game 2 was uncertain. His status for Wednesday remains uncertain.

The offensive trouble extends beyond this opening loss. Browne reported that Boston averaged three runs per game in its 24 September regular-season games and ranked last in the majors for that month in batting average and OPS. The Red Sox will need an immediate change against Yankees left-hander Max Fried.

Sonny Gray is scheduled to start for Boston in Game 2 on Wednesday at 8 p.m. Eastern, with the game on NBC and Peacock. New York leads the best-of-three series 1-0; Boston must win Wednesday to force a deciding game.