Cam Schlittler, from Walpole, Mass., maybe as hated as anyone in his own hometown, continues to torment the team of his youth. He has to know what’s coming after shutting down his formerly beloved Boston Red Sox yet again — yes, even more hate mail. 

Schlittler relishes big games, and they’re all big now for the current leader in a tight race for the Cy Young award. But the outings against Boston really seem to fire him up. That’s the team he must really ache to beat. 

We believe that because he’s said so in the past. And we know it because his fastball explodes when he faces the Olde Towne Team, and also because he tends to dominate them. He threw 5 ²/₃ scoreless innings in a stirring 1-0 Yankees win at The Stadium that moved them three games clear of Boston in the race of behemoths for second place behind the AL East-leading low-revenue Tampa Bay Rays. 

Schlittler struck out eight and walked five (he might have been a bit overamped) before 43,476 fans, some of the Boston persuasion. He gave up only two hits, understandable since his pitches appeared like a blur.