Cam Schlittler is set to face the Red Sox again, and Boston already knows what that can look like. He worked 8 innings and allowed 2 runs, including 1 earned run, against them in April, then came back in June and gave up 1 earned run in 5.2 innings.
That is why the search terms point straight to Yankees Vs Red Sox today. The Yankees are in first place, the Red Sox are at home, and Boston is trying to avoid a four-game sweep after struggling mightily in that setting.
Schlittler also arrives with momentum from his last outing, when he struck out 13. For a Red Sox team that needs a stop now, the matchup is less about theory than whether one pitcher can again do what he has already done twice this season.
The Red Sox have had other answers at times. Connelly Early bounced back from his worst start of the season and held the Mariners to 1 run in 6.0 innings, while Will Warren has six starts of fewer than 5.0 innings and allowed 15 runs in 14.1 innings against Boston last year. But that does not change the immediate problem in front of them: Schlittler has already handled this lineup in April and June, and the next meeting comes with the series margin still hanging over Boston.
There is also a larger reason the mood around Boston feels heavier than one game. The Red Sox won Sonny Gray's game in Yankee Stadium on June 5, but they have not turned that into steadier home results, and the franchise still carries the memory of July 9, 2006, when Jonathan Papelbon and Mike Timlin both blew saves against the Chicago White Sox before the season slid to 33-43 the rest of the way. That history does not decide this series, but it explains why another loss would land harder than usual. If Schlittler again works deep and keeps the Red Sox quiet, Boston will be left with the same question it has already failed to answer twice: how to beat a pitcher who has already had its number.
