Alex Bregman shares high praise for Cam Schlittler amid Red Sox loss to Yankees

Matt Sullivan

•
Alex Bregman shares high praise for Cam Schlittler amid Red Sox loss to Yankees image

The Boston Red Sox won Game 1 of the AL Wild Card matchup against the New York Yankees, but for the first time since 2022, they lost the series after dropping Games 2 and 3. It was a tough outcome, and a huge reason for the loss was the Yankees' pitching.

Cam Schlittler was dominant for the Yankees, going eight shutout innings to all but close the door on the Red Sox this season. He struck out 12 and didn't allow many baserunners all night long in one of the best postseason performances in Yankees and MLB history.

After the game on NESN, Red Sox All-Star Alex Bregman shared some high praise for Schlittler. His dominant performance was deserving of praise, and Bregman, despite being on the receiving end of Schlittler's dominance, wasn't afraid of praising the rookie.

Alex Bregman reacts to 'tough' matchup against Cam Schlittler

"Definitely tough," Bregman said. "Electric stuff. We just didn't do enough off him."

Schlittler's stuff was electric on Thursday night, shutting down the Red Sox through eight innings of work and on 107 pitches, 75 of which were strikes.

Aside from his impressive 12 strikeouts, the rookie pitcher, in just his 15th big league start, allowed only five hits and no walks while getting 24 outs.

When a pitcher can take over a postseason game, it's incredibly challenging for the opposing team to knock them out of the game and get to the bullpen.

Bregman struck out looking in his first at-bat against Schlittler, then he flied out to right field in his second at-bat, before reaching on a fielder's choice in the sixth inning to end his day 0-3 against the Yankees' rookie pitcher.

More: Red Sox's Jaren Duran breaks silence on costly drop against Yankees in Game 2 loss

The Red Sox lost the series after winning Game 1 and will now head into an offseason with a lot of questions to ask. Bregman is one of those main topics of conversation.

He has an opt-out to become a free agent, and if he so chooses, he might decide to leave the Red Sox for a new team this winter. Along with the uncertainty of Jarren Duran's role going forward, a few key changes could be coming for Boston this offseason.

After going 89-73, making the postseason, even without Rafael Devers, the Red Sox came up short in the first round of the playoffs. A huge reason why was the dominance of Schlittler, something that Bregman succinctly described as both "tough" and "electric."

More Red Sox News:

Matt Sullivan

Matt Sullivan is a freelance writer for The Sporting News, predominantly covering MLB. Matt is a native of Pennsylvania and has worked with Athlon Sports, Last Word on Sports, and other outlets.