How the Yankees Swept the Red Sox at Fenway for the First Time Since 2021

Boston native Cam Schlittler earned the victory for New York in his first start at Fenway, outlasting his counterpart Payton Tolle, who kept the Red Sox in it.

Cam Schlittler leads the majors with a sparkling 0.86 FIP and 12.0 K/BB ratio this season. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Yankees (16–9) are flying high with the best record in the American League after staging a comeback win over the last-place Red Sox (9–16) in Boston on Thursday. Winners of six straight, New York leaves Boston with its first road sweep over the Red Sox since 2021.

Cam Schlittler, who grew up in the suburbs of Boston as a Red Sox fan, improved his ERA to 1.77 while allowing four hits, one walk and two runs (one earned) with five strikeouts. The 25-year-old broke into the national spotlight during the decisive Game 3 of last year's wild-card series between the two historic rivals by shutting out his hometown team through eight innings, but Thursday marked his first career start at Fenway Park. Yankees starters combined to allow just one earned run over 22 1/3 innings over the three-game sweep.

Yankees starters combined to allow just one earned run over 22 1/3 innings over the three-game sweep.

Boston countered with a young hurler of its own in Payton Tolle, who was arguably even more impressive than Schlittler while making just his fourth career MLB start and his first in 2026. The consensus top-15 prospect struck out 11 Yankees and allowed just one run over six innings, but the Red Sox bullpen immediately coughed up the lead in the seventh inning once Tolle exited. Cody Bellinger came off the bench to pinch hit and delivered a go-ahead, two-run single off Greg Weissert to give the Yankees a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

If you want a more thorough recap, read our live coverage below of the game below from Sports Illustrated MLB editor Will Laws and senior writer Tom Verducci.

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