Red Sox Must Worry About Young AL East Aces After Pitcher's Duel

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As Connelly Early led the Boston Red Sox to victory, two of the American League East's other burgeoning aces clashed.

The Toronto Blue Jays earned a 2-1 win over the New York Yankees on Wednesday night in a battle of power pitchers and 2025 postseason heroes. Trey Yesavage outdueled Cam Schlittler in a matchup that Red Sox hitters and fans can't love.

Yesavage blanked a dangerous Yankees lineup across six innings, allowing two hits and zero walks with a season-high eight strikeouts. The 22-year-old boasts a microscopic 1.07 ERA in five starts, including 5 1/3 scoreless frames against Boston on April 28.

While Yesavage looks to make up ground in the AL Rookie of the Year race, Schlittler continued to make his Cy Young Award case. The 25-year-old now wields a sparkling 1.50 ERA and 0.86 WHIP following his seventh quality start.

Schlittler's two runs actually represented the most he allowed in an outing since April 12. The Massachusetts native, who dominated the Red Sox in last year's winner-take-all Wild Card Series matchup, collected seven strikeouts in six innings.

Wednesday's game remained scoreless through six innings, but Yankees manager Aaron Boone sent out Schlittler to start the seventh. Toronto notched an infield single, walk, bunt single and another walk before relief pitcher Jake Bird allowed another inherited run to score.

"He's a good player," Schlittler said of Yesavage after the game, per SNY. "It was a good battle there. Obviously slipped away from me towards the end. Again, I like the fight we had in the last inning. I thought it was a great rally. Unfortunate we came up short, but if I get out of that inning, probably a different outcome of that game."

The Red Sox may have to deal with Schlittler and Yesavage for a long time. 

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