Schlittler, Rice star as Yankees blank Red Sox in Game 1

NEW YORK -- Cam Schlittler pitched another playoff gem against the Boston Red Sox, and Ben Rice also burned their hometown team with a late grand slam and six RBIs as the New York Yankees opened this Wild Card Series rematch with a 9-0 victory Tuesday night. With the Yankees minus star slugger Aaron Judge because of a calf injury, Rice homered twice, doubled and finished with four hits to power the offense. No. 9 batter Austin Wells drove in two runs for New York, and 21-year-old rookie George Lombard Jr. had three hits in his postseason debut. Rice and Schlittler were both raised among Red Sox fans in Massachusetts and went to college in New England before getting plucked by the Yankees out of Boston's backyard in baseball's amateur draft. Schlittler, a clear frontrunner for the AL Cy Young Award after leading the league with a 1.95 ERA, struck out 10 and walked one in 6 1/3 innings. He allowed only two hits while throwing 117 pitches -- 10 more than his previous career high and most by a Yankees postseason starter since Hall of Fame lefty CC Sabathia threw 121 in the 2012 AL Division Series against Baltimore. "Awesome," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Schlittler's outing. "The only thing was, obviously, it was a higher pitch count, and they made him work. ... They took some tough at-bats against him. ... But he was terrific." The major league high this season was 120 by Dylan Cease for Toronto at Boston in July. For 4 2/3 innings, Red Sox starter Payton Tolle was keeping up with Schlittler. He struck out four, allowing one run on five hits before departing with a 1-0 deficit. "Wasn't good enough," Tolle said of his performance. "They had a good plan and I threw a lot of balls. ... I just didn't feel like I could command the zone. I kind of let some at-bats get away from me." The Associated Press contributed to this report.