# Bridgewater Built This Win: Former Somerset Patriots Carry Yankees Past Red Sox in Wild Card Opener 2026-09-30 · TD Bank Ballpark · Bridgewater, New Jersey · Reported Event Ben Rice tied a Yankees postseason RBI record, Cam Schlittler made October history, George Lombard Jr. joined rare company, and former Patriots accounted for 11 of New York’s 12 hits in a 9-0 Game 1 rout. Ben Rice tied a Yankees postseason RBI record, Cam Schlittler made October history, George Lombard Jr. joined rare company, and former Patriots accounted for 11 of New York’s 12 hits in a 9-0 Game 1 rout. --- Last night was not simply a good night for former Somerset Patriots. It was a takeover. The New York Yankees opened the American League Wild Card Series on Tuesday, Sept. 29 with a 9-0 demolition of the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. For anyone who has spent the last few seasons watching the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate in Bridgewater, the box score looked less like a collection of familiar names and more like an alumni reunion that had taken control of October. Cam Schlittler started on the mound. Ben Rice was the designated hitter. George Lombard Jr. started at shortstop, Anthony Volpe at second base, Spencer Jones in center field and Austin Wells behind the plate. Six starting spots, counting the pitcher, were occupied by players who had worn a Somerset Patriots uniform on their way to the Bronx. Then they proceeded to own the game. The Somerset Box Score Was Absurd The five former Patriots in the Yankees’ batting order combined to go 11-for-18, a .611 batting average, with seven runs scored, eight RBI, two home runs, a double and a walk. Their 18 total bases produced a 1.000 slugging percentage for the night. The Yankees had 12 hits as a team. Eleven came from former Somerset players. Cody Bellinger’s single was the only Yankees hit produced by someone who had not played for the Patriots. New York was credited with eight RBI in the game. Every one of them belonged to a former Patriot: six for Rice and two for Wells. Seven of the Yankees’ nine runs were scored by former Patriots. The other two, Paul Goldschmidt and Ryan McMahon, came home on Rice’s grand slam. Put another way, every run the Yankees scored either crossed the plate with a former Patriot or was driven in by one. And while the Somerset hitters were doing that, Schlittler was on the mound throwing 6 1/3 scoreless innings. This was not a supporting contribution from the farm system. The Somerset alumni were the game. Cam Schlittler Turns October Into His Stage Schlittler set the tone immediately. His first pitch of the night was 100.6 mph, and Boston never found a comfortable way into an at-bat against him. The 25-year-old right-hander worked 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out 10. He threw a career-high 117 pitches, 77 for strikes, and Boston did not advance a runner to second base against him. After Adley Rutschman singled in the first inning, Schlittler retired 13 consecutive hitters before issuing a two-out walk in the fifth. He also changed the shape of his usual attack. Schlittler threw a career-high 32 curveballs, roughly 27 percent of his pitches, and finished with a career-high 24 swings and misses. It was a wrinkle layered on top of the premium fastball that has already made him one of baseball’s most difficult starters. The 117 pitches were the most by a Yankees starter in a postseason game since CC Sabathia threw 121 in Game 5 of the 2012 ALDS. And the larger October records are even more impressive. Schlittler is now the first pitcher in Yankees history with multiple postseason outings of at least 10 strikeouts and zero runs allowed. Both have come against Boston. He is also the second pitcher in Major League history to make multiple postseason starts against the Red Sox and strike out at least 10 in both, joining Bob Gibson. At 25, he became the youngest pitcher in postseason history with two scoreless starts of 10 or more strikeouts, and he is one of only four pitchers to record two 10-strikeout postseason games before turning 26. His two career scoreless postseason starts with at least 10 strikeouts tie Sandy Koufax, Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson and Cliff Lee for second-most in MLB history. Justin Verlander has three. The numbers against Boston have become almost ridiculous. Across six career starts against the Red Sox, regular season and postseason combined, Schlittler is 4-1 with a 0.47 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 38 2/3 innings. In his two postseason starts against Boston alone, he has thrown 14 1/3 scoreless innings with 22 strikeouts. Bridgewater saw the early version of this. Schlittler made 17 appearances for Somerset across 2024 and 2025, posting a 3.16 ERA with 107 strikeouts in 85 1/3 innings. Tuesday night was the fully developed version, on the biggest stage. The First Run Was Pure Somerset The first Yankees run was almost a perfect snapshot of the Patriots-to-Bronx pipeline. Lombard opened the bottom of the second with a single in his first career postseason plate appearance. Volpe followed with a single of his own. After Jones made the second out, Wells punched a single through the right side off left-hander Payton Tolle, bringing Lombard home for a 1-0 lead. Lombard. Volpe. Wells. Three former Patriots, one run, in a playoff game against Boston. Wells’ night was particularly satisfying because the matchup was supposed to work against him. He hit just .122 with a .436 OPS in 99 regular-season plate appearances against left-handed pitching, collecting only 11 hits. Against Boston’s lefties Tuesday, he collected two more. Wells finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored. He added another single off left-hander Alec Gamboa in the seventh and a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Behind the plate, he caught Schlittler’s 6 1/3 scoreless innings and helped end the first inning with a successful ABS challenge. Somerset fans have seen Wells handle October pressure before. During the Patriots’ 2022 Eastern League championship run, he hit .318/.403/.470 in the postseason and caught the championship-clinching combined no-hitter. He played 113 games for Somerset across 2022 and 2023, collecting 109 hits, 23 home runs and 93 RBI. George Lombard Jr. Looked Like He Had Been There Before Lombard was making his postseason debut. He played like the moment had been waiting for him. At 21 years and 119 days old, Lombard became the youngest Yankee to start a postseason game since Mickey Mantle in 1952. He then went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, becoming only the fifth player in Yankees history to collect at least three hits in his postseason debut and the first to do it since Bernie Williams in 1995. His first hit started the second-inning rally that produced the game’s first run. He added another infield single in the fourth, then opened the eighth with his third hit before scoring on Wells’ sacrifice fly. He contributed defensively, too. After Schlittler left in the seventh following a one-out single, Paul Blackburn induced a ground ball that Lombard fielded at short and turned with Volpe at second and Goldschmidt at first for an inning-ending double play. The two former Patriots who once represented different generations of the Yankees’ shortstop pipeline were suddenly side by side in the middle of the infield, closing an October inning together. Lombard’s Somerset chapter is especially recent. He played 128 games for the Patriots across 2025 and 2026, batting .231/.347/.393 with 86 runs, 108 hits, 12 home runs and 46 RBI. He was in Bridgewater this April. Five months later, he was collecting three hits in his postseason debut at Yankee Stadium. Spencer Jones Kept Starting Rallies Jones did not drive in a run, but he kept putting himself exactly where the big swings needed him. He finished 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. His seventh-inning single helped ignite the first late rally, and Rice drove him home with a bases-loaded single to make it 3-0. In the eighth, Jones drew a walk to load the bases and later scored on Rice’s grand slam. Jones also supplied one of the night’s best descriptions of Schlittler, saying simply that he was “nasty.” Somerset had a long look at Jones before the Bronx did. He spent parts of three seasons in Bridgewater from 2023 through 2025, hitting .263/.349/.482 with 191 hits, 36 home runs, 120 RBI and 43 stolen bases in 188 games. Anthony Volpe Did the Little Things, Too Volpe’s line was quieter than the others, but his fingerprints were on several important sequences. He went 1-for-3, singled behind Lombard in the second to help create the first run, turned the seventh-inning double play with Lombard and Goldschmidt, and laid down a sacrifice bunt in the eighth that moved Lombard and McMahon into scoring position. That bunt became part of the five-run inning that ended with Rice’s grand slam. Before becoming the Yankees’ everyday shortstop and later moving around the infield, Volpe spent 110 games with Somerset in 2022. He hit .251/.348/.472 with 18 home runs, 60 RBI, 71 runs and 44 stolen bases, leading that Patriots team in a long list of offensive categories on the way to the majors. Then Ben Rice Turned a Big Night Into Yankees History Rice began the game with a first-inning double. In the fifth, he launched a 423-foot solo home run to straightaway center field off Erik Miller, giving Schlittler a 2-0 cushion. In the seventh, with the bases loaded, Rice lined an RBI single to right that scored Jones and made it 3-0. Then came the eighth. Lombard singled. Volpe sacrificed. Jones walked. Wells brought Lombard home with a sacrifice fly. With two outs and the bases loaded, Rice faced Brayan Bello and crushed a 3-2 sinker 408 feet into the right-center-field bullpen. The ball left his bat at 108.6 mph. Grand slam. 9-0. Rice finished 4-for-5 with a double, two home runs, two runs scored, six RBI and 11 total bases. He had more hits by himself than the Red Sox had as a team. The six RBI tied the Yankees’ single-game postseason record, putting Rice alongside Bobby Richardson, Bernie Williams, Hideki Matsui and Robinson Canó. He became the first player in Yankees history to record at least four hits and six RBI in the same postseason game. The grand slam was the 16th in Yankees postseason history. Rice also became the first Yankee with a multi-home-run postseason game since Giancarlo Stanton in Game 2 of the 2020 ALDS, and his four-hit night was the Yankees’ first in the postseason since 2020. For Somerset fans, none of the production feels completely out of nowhere. Rice played 98 games for the Patriots in 2023 and 2024 and hit .295/.392/.582 with 28 home runs and 74 RBI. From the moment he reached Double-A in July 2023 through his promotion, he led all Double-A hitters in home runs, RBI, runs, extra-base hits and total bases. The bat that owned Double-A eventually owned a Yankees-Red Sox playoff game. Three Patriots Grand Slams in One Yankees Year Rice’s eighth-inning slam also completed a remarkable thread running through the Yankees’ 2026 season. The Yankees’ first grand slam of the regular season came from Lombard on Sept. 9 against Colorado. At 21 years and 99 days old, he became the second-youngest Yankee ever to hit a grand slam, behind only Mickey Mantle. One night later, Volpe returned to the Yankees lineup and hit a grand slam against the Rockies as part of a three-hit, five-RBI game. The back-to-back slams from Lombard and Volpe made the Yankees the first team in franchise history to hit grand slams in consecutive games with both slams coming from players age 25 or younger. Ryan McMahon hit the Yankees’ third regular-season grand slam on Sept. 23 against Tampa Bay. Then Rice hit the postseason slam Tuesday night. So, counting the postseason, the Yankees have hit four grand slams in 2026. Three of the four were hit by former Somerset Patriots: Lombard, Volpe and Rice. Even the exception has a Somerset footnote: McMahon made a rehab appearance with the Patriots in late August. This Is What the Pipeline Is Supposed to Look Like Minor league affiliation is often discussed in abstract terms: development plans, promotions, prospect rankings and organizational depth. Tuesday night was what all of that looks like when it becomes tangible. Rice and Schlittler were first-time MLB All-Stars this summer. Lombard was in Somerset as recently as April. Jones spent 188 games there. Wells helped win an Eastern League championship there. Volpe’s 2022 season in Bridgewater helped launch him toward the Bronx. Then, in Game 1 of a Yankees-Red Sox postseason series, those players did almost everything. They supplied 11 of 12 hits. Every official RBI. Seven of nine runs. Both home runs. The first run. The final run. A sacrifice bunt. A sacrifice fly. A key double play. A successful ABS challenge. Six and a third scoreless innings. Ten strikeouts. A franchise postseason RBI record. Multiple pitching records. A three-hit postseason debut from the youngest Yankees postseason starter since Mickey Mantle. Somerset did not merely have alumni in the game. For one extraordinary October night, Somerset carried it. Somerset Alumni: Complete Game 1 Ledger Collectively, the five former Patriots hitters went 11-for-18 (.611) with seven runs, eight RBI, two home runs and 18 total bases. They produced 91.7% of the Yankees’ hits and 100% of the club’s credited RBI. Former PatriotGame 1 lineHighlights / recordsCam Schlittler6.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K, 117 pitchesFirst Yankee with multiple postseason 10+ K / 0-run starts; youngest MLB pitcher with two such starts; 117 pitches most by a Yankees postseason starter since 2012.Ben Rice4-for-5, 2 R, 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 11 TBTied Yankees postseason single-game RBI record; first Yankee with 4+ hits and 6+ RBI in one postseason game; 16th Yankees postseason grand slam.George Lombard Jr.3-for-4, 2 RYoungest Yankee to start a postseason game since Mickey Mantle in 1952; fifth Yankee with 3+ hits in postseason debut.Austin Wells2-for-3, 1 R, 2 RBI, SFDrove in the game’s first run; added a second hit and sac fly; caught Schlittler’s shutout start and won a first-inning ABS challenge.Spencer Jones1-for-3, BB, 2 RReached twice and scored in both late rallies, including on Rice’s grand slam.Anthony Volpe1-for-3, SHHelped create the first run, turned the seventh-inning double play with Lombard, and sacrificed two runners over in the five-run eighth. The 2026 Yankees Grand-Slam Trail Sept. 9 — George Lombard Jr. vs. Colorado: Yankees’ first grand slam of the season; second-youngest Yankee ever to hit one.Sept. 10 — Anthony Volpe vs. Colorado: second Yankees grand slam of the season, one night after Lombard’s.Sept. 23 — Ryan McMahon vs. Tampa Bay: third regular-season grand slam.Sept. 29 — Ben Rice vs. Boston, AL Wild Card Game 1: 16th postseason grand slam in Yankees history. Bottom line: counting the postseason, three of the Yankees’ four grand slams in 2026 have been hit by former Somerset Patriots. Research Sources • MLB - Ben Rice Game 1 feature • CBS Sports/AP - Yankees 9, Red Sox 0 recap and box score • Reuters - Schlittler/Rice Game 1 recap • NBC Sports - Schlittler postseason records • Somerset Patriots - MLB Debuts / alumni records • Somerset Patriots - Schlittler and Rice Somerset career notes • MLB - George Lombard Jr. first grand slam • MLB - Anthony Volpe grand return --- ProbleMattic is written and maintained by Matthew Kulcsar, a software engineer, project manager, technologist, platform builder, emergency-services-trained helper, grandfather, and lifelong collector of broken systems, odd behaviors, and useful nonsense.