This Cam Schlittler Game 3 start was no ordinary gem — it was a Yankees performance for the ages

Cam Schlittler called it “personal.” He grew up a Red Sox fan in Walpole, Mass., and while he has moved on to a different allegiance, his friends and many others from the region certainly have not.

And Schlittler explained that from the moment Garrett Crochet pitched the Red Sox to a Game 1 victory in this wild-card series, those from his past were trying to make his present miserable. Even in trying to shut off his phone and ears from the world, enough of the gibes and worse seeped in, enough annoyed him, enough motivated him.

“I had an opportunity to pitch to a good lineup and end their season,” Schlittler said, “and get bragging rights over everyone I know back home.”

That he offered this dripping in champagne in an exhilarated Yankees clubhouse Thursday screamed about who has the last word when he returns home for the offseason — which will be a while still because of him.