Yankee Stadium on a chilly October night can only mean one thing: postseason baseball is back in the Bronx. The Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees meet for the sixth time in the postseason for a best-of-three wild-card series.

The Red Sox took Game 1 of these best-of-three behind a Garrett Crochet masterpiece of 7 2/3 innings, giving up one run and striking out 11 Yankees. 

In the second game, it was the Yankees who were able to pull together a win behind a big hit from Austin Wells and a few costly mistakes from the Red Sox. That set up the third, winner-take-all game on Oct. 2  in the Bronx. 

The next two guys to take the spotlight in this rivalry are the centerpieces of the futures of both teams. 

Two rookies took the mound for this game with the weight of these two fanbases on their shoulders. For the Red Sox, it was Connelly Early, who had only made four starts this year, posting a 2.33 Earned Run Average with a record of 1-2. 

For the Yankees, it was Cam Schlittler, who had been good for the team since getting called up, as he came into this game with a 4-3 record and a 2.96 ERA.

The first few innings went by, and the two rookies seemed settled into the game until the fourth inning, when it all started to come apart for the Red Sox. 

Early began his fourth inning by forcing a fly out that was misread by Red Sox centerfielder Ceddanne Rafaela, leading to Cody Bellinger getting to second base.

Early then walked Giancarlo Stanton, and just like that, instead of one out and a guy on first, it was two men on and no outs. Amed Rosario singled and got home Bellinger; he was followed by Anthony Volpe’s single that made it 2-0. Wells then hit a sharp ground ball that was mishandled at first, scoring two more runs.

Schlittler took that four-run lead and never looked back, as he was just special in this game. 

He did not walk a single Red Sox batter in the eighth innings of shutout ball with 12 strikeouts — truly one of the most special performances in not only Yankee history but also the postseason history.

David Bednar came in to close it out, and for the first time in 21 years, the Yankees put down the Red Sox in the postseason.

The Yankees now look ahead to the Blue Jays in a series that should be a battle for the chance to move on to the American League Division Series.