NEW YORK (Interstat) — Cam Schlittler struck out 10 over 6 1/3 scoreless innings and Ben Rice homered twice, including a grand slam, as the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 9-0 in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium II. Rice drove in six runs. The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series. Boston managed three hits, while New York finished with 12. The game drew 48,437 and took 3:01. Boston fell to 90-77, and New York improved to 97-70.

Schlittler, a Massachusetts native who grew up rooting for Boston, delivered another strong postseason performance against the Red Sox. The right-hander allowed two hits, walked one and struck out 10. He exited after 6 1/3 innings. New York’s bullpen finished with shutout relief. Paul Blackburn worked 1 2/3 innings and allowed one hit. John Schreiber added a scoreless inning with one strikeout. The combination kept Boston off the scoreboard after an early threat. Schlittler earned the win and improved to 15-7.

Boston’s best chance came in the first inning. Adley Rutschman singled on a fly ball to left fielder Cody Bellinger, but Roman Anthony and Willson Contreras struck out. Wilyer Abreu was called out on strikes after a review overturned the call. In the second, Ceddanne Rafaela and Nick Sogard grounded out, and Jarren Duran struck out. Trevor Story struck out in the third, Caleb Durbin grounded out, and Anthony struck out again. Rutschman and Contreras struck out in the fourth. Rafaela lined out, Sogard grounded out and Story flied out in the fifth. Boston’s offense never found a rhythm.

Payton Tolle took the loss after allowing one earned run over 4 2/3 innings. He gave up five hits, walked one and struck out four. Boston’s bullpen could not slow the Yankees. Erik Miller allowed two hits and one earned run in a third of an inning. Brayan Bello yielded two earned runs on one hit and one walk in two-thirds of an inning. Wyatt Olds was charged with three earned runs on one hit and two walks over 1 1/3 innings. Greg Weissert tossed a scoreless inning. The uneven relief helped New York pull away.

New York broke through in the second. George Lombard Jr. singled on a fly ball to center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela. Amed Rosario struck out on a foul tip, but Anthony Volpe singled on a line drive to center. Spencer Jones popped out in foul territory for the second out. Austin Wells then singled on a sharp ground ball to right fielder Wilyer Abreu, scoring Lombard Jr. and moving Volpe to second. Paul Goldschmidt grounded out to end the inning. Wells finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

The Yankees threatened again in the fourth. Lombard Jr. singled on a ground ball to shortstop Trevor Story. Rosario walked after a review overturned the call, moving Lombard Jr. to second. Volpe popped out to first baseman Willson Contreras in foul territory. Spencer Jones then lined into a double play, with third baseman Caleb Durbin throwing to second baseman Nick Sogard to double off Lombard Jr. New York left the inning empty.

New York added to its lead in the fifth. Wells popped out to catcher Adley Rutschman in foul territory, and Goldschmidt lined out to right fielder Wilyer Abreu. Rice then homered on a fly ball to center field. Heliot Ramos grounded out to end the inning. Boston answered with a quiet fifth: Rafaela lined out, Sogard grounded out and Duran walked before Story flied out. In the sixth, Durbin popped out, Andruw Monasterio struck out and Rutschman struck out on a foul tip.

New York padded its lead in the seventh. Spencer Jones singled on a line drive to right fielder Wilyer Abreu. Wells singled on a ground ball to right, moving Jones to second. Goldschmidt walked to load the bases. Rice lined a single to right field, scoring Jones. Luis García Jr. then grounded into a double play that allowed Wells to score and moved Goldschmidt to third. Cody Bellinger flied out to center field to end the inning. The Yankees had built a 4-0 advantage.

Boston’s seventh ended in frustration. Contreras lined out to second baseman Anthony Volpe. Abreu singled on a line drive to right fielder Heliot Ramos, but Rafaela grounded into a double play, with shortstop George Lombard Jr. starting the turn. In the eighth, Sogard grounded out, Duran grounded out and Story doubled on a sharp line drive to left fielder Cody Bellinger. Durbin flied out to center fielder Trent Grisham.

The Yankees blew the game open in the eighth. Lombard Jr. singled on a sharp line drive to center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela. Ryan McMahon walked, moving Lombard Jr. to second. Volpe sacrificed both runners into scoring position with a bunt to third baseman Caleb Durbin. Spencer Jones walked to load the bases. Wells lifted a sacrifice fly to right fielder Wilyer Abreu, scoring Lombard Jr. Goldschmidt walked to reload the bases. Rice then hit a grand slam to center field, clearing the bases and making it 9-0. Trent Grisham lined out sharply to center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela to end the inning. Rice finished 4-for-5 with two homers and six RBIs. He doubled in the first, homered in the fifth, singled in the seventh and hit the grand slam in the eighth.

In the ninth, Monasterio flied out to right fielder Spencer Jones. Rutschman grounded out, shortstop George Lombard Jr. to first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. Contreras struck out swinging to end the game. Boston finished with three hits: Rutschman’s first-inning single, Abreu’s seventh-inning single and Story’s eighth-inning double. New York collected 12 hits. Wells had two hits and two RBIs. Rice’s grand slam capped the scoring. The Yankees took a 1-0 series lead and moved within one win of advancing.

Pre-game, Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Boston 6, New York 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Yankees a 54.3 percent probability to win. The Yankees had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 9 went under the over/under line of 6.5.