Connelly Early, who just made his major league debut in September, will take the ball for the Red Sox as they look to extend their season at Yankee Stadium.
After suffering a tough 4-3 loss on Wednesday night against the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox will look to extend their season on Thursday night in a winner-take-all Game 3 of the American League wild card series.
And because of the elbow injury to Lucas Giolito, Red Sox' rookie Connelly Early will take the ball on the mound, setting himself up to be part of some extremely rare history.
Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:
The Red Sox - Yankees ALWCS Game 3 will be the second winner-take-all game in postseason history between 2 rookie starting pitchers with Connelly Early and Cam Schlittler, joining:
2020 NLCS g7: Dustin May, Ian Anderson
The Early story
The 23-year-old lefty was a fifth-round pick of the Red Sox in the 2023 MLB Draft out of the University of Virginia. Prior to Virginia, he also played at Army for two seasons.
His college career included a 23-9 record and a 3.01 ERA. He struck out 227 batters in 209.1 innings.
He had a fantastic minor league season in 2025, going 7-2 for Double-A Portland and 3-1 for Triple-A Worcester. He had a combined ERA of 2.60.
Thrust into the spotlight
The lefty has only four big-league appearances under his belt, and just made his debut in September. He was excellent, going 1-2 with a 2.33 ERA. He struck out 29 in just 19.1 innings.
He's never gone more than 5.1 innings in the big leagues, so the Red Sox will likely be looking at a short outing and a bullpen performance behind him.
His most recent start was against Detroit on Sept. 27 and he struck out seven in five innings, but the Yankees present a unique challenge, given that they hit the most home runs in baseball.
Furthermore, the environment of Yankee Stadium, coupled with the meaning of the game, will make this unlike anything Early has ever seen.
On the other side
Schlitter just made his major league debut in July, and he's also been excellent since getting promoted. In 14 starts, he's 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA. He has a high-octane fastball that hits the upper-90s, and he struck out 84 batters in 73.0 innings.
He struck out nine in his final start of the season, which was Sept. 27 against the Orioles. He gave up no runs on two hits.
Game info
First pitch is set for 8:08 p.m. ET. The winner of the series goes onto play the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Division Series, which begins on Saturday.
Related Red Sox Stories
CHAPMAN SENDS YANKS TO HISTORIC LOW: After getting out of a bases loaded, nobody out jam in the ninth inning on Tuesday, Aroldis Chapman sent his former club into a historic group all by themselves. CLICK HERE:
GETTING AGGRESSIVE: With multiple pitchers set to leave in free agency or need time recovering from injury, the Red Sox are expected to heavily pursue pitching in the offseason. CLICK HERE:
THE STREAK: Ten years in the league, nine years in the playoffs. Welcome to the life of Alex Bregman. CLICK HERE:
Join the Conversation
Remember to join our RED SOX on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Red Sox fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!