The New York Yankees are on to the American League Division Series. They defeated the Boston Red Sox in a do-or-die Game 3 of the Wild Card series, 4-0.

The biggest reason was also one of the least likely. Yankees rookie starting pitcher Cam Schlittler tossed eight shutout innings. He allowed just five hits while striking out 12.

Schlittler became the first pitcher in postseason history to toss eight scoreless innings, strike out 12, without walking a batter, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

That is pretty remarkable when you think about all of the great playoff performances in years past.

From the very first inning, it was clear that Schlittler brought his best stuff. The Red Sox were overmatched by his 100+ mph fastball, and he got stronger as the game progressed. Expand Tweet

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