NEW YORK — Cam Schlittler grew up in Walpole, Mass., about 25 miles southwest of Fenway Park.

Ben Rice hails from Cohasset, Mass., about 25 miles southeast of the home of the Boston Red Sox.

Yet it was the New York Yankees who drafted the towering right-hander and the lefty-swinging slugger — a reality that once again haunted the Red Sox in Game 1 of the wild-card series.

Schlittler hurled 6 1/3 scoreless innings and Rice homered twice — including a grand slam that served as an emphatic dagger — in the Yankees’ 9-0 win over the Red Sox in the Bronx.

The blowout victory left the Yankees one win away from advancing to the ALDS and eliminating their century-old rival from a second consecutive postseason.

Behind a blazing fastball and increased curveball usage, Schlittler struck out 10 and limited Boston to only two hits and a walk, at one point retiring 13 batters in a row.

The American League Cy Young Award favorite heard chants of “MVP” throughout the night and exited after his 117th and final pitch to a standing ovation from a sellout crowd of 48,437.

Tuesday marked Schlittler’s latest dominance versus the Red Sox, against whom he tossed eight scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts in the winner-take-all Game 3 of last year’s wild-card series.

That start — during which Schlittler drew inspiration from trash-talking Red Sox fans who had targeted his mother online — introduced the then-rookie to a national audience.

“I wouldn’t say I’m always on my phone looking for that stuff,” Schlittler said Monday. “At the same time, I don’t really live under a rock as well. Found ways to use that to my advantage. I think I’m good at keeping receipts.”

Last year’s playoff gem proved to be just the start, as the 25-year-old Schlittler went 14-6 with an MLB-best 1.95 ERA and 239 strikeouts over 193 2/3 innings this year in his first full MLB season, largely on the strength of three different fastball variations.

The Yankees thus pegged Schlittler to start Game 1, and once again, he delivered.

“He’s shown an ability to, the bigger the spot, seems like the better he’s been,” manager Aaron Boone said before Tuesday’s game. “But that’s a testament to just being a great pitcher with great stuff that is, I think, an elite competitor, too.”

Game 1 began like any other start for Schlittler, whose first four pitches to Red Sox leadoff man Roman Anthony came in at least 100 mph.

But Schlittler then threw Anthony for a loop, fooling him with a rare curveball for a swinging third strike.

Schlittler used his curveball just 9.8% of the time over his 33 regular-season starts, but the breaking ball proved to be a devastating weapon for him Tuesday.

He threw it 32 times — or for 31.6% of his pitches — and elicited eight swings and misses with it.

A childhood Red Sox fan, Schlittler now boasts a remarkable 0.47 ERA with 49 strikeouts over 38 2/3 innings in six career starts against them, including the playoffs.

A 2022 seventh-round pick out of Boston’s Northeastern University, Schlittler continues to stick it to his hometown team, which he said Monday didn’t scout him much.

“I wouldn’t say there was really much of a scout there,” Schlittler said. “Again, the connections that I had in college with the scouts, the Red Sox really weren’t one of those. [Matt] Hyde was kind of my guy, and he had a lot of faith in me and he’s the reason why I’m a Yankee.”

Hyde is the Yankees’ Northeast area scout who was similarly instrumental in them selecting Rice with a 12th-round pick in 2021.

With Aaron Judge sidelined due to a right calf strain, Rice — fresh off of a breakout 41-homer campaign — represents the Yankees’ most dangerous bat, and he came through Tuesday, too.

After Austin Wells’ second-inning RBI single against Red Sox left-hander Payton Tolle gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead, Rice doubled that advantage with a 423-foot solo shot to straightaway center field against lefty reliever Erik Miller in the sixth.

Rice added a bases-loaded RBI single against another left-handed reliever, Alec Gamboa, in the seventh.

And then in the eighth, Rice blew the game wide open, crushing a 408-foot grand slam against right-handed reliever Brayan Bello into right-field stands

The Red Sox showed interest in Rice coming out of Dartmouth, with Hyde telling the New York Daily News last year that Boston’s area scout “absolutely loved him.”

But the Yankees ultimately drafted Rice, who finished 4 for 5 with two homers and six RBI in their Game 1 victory.

It was the 27th multi-homer game in Yankees playoff history.

Rice’s production was particularly key considering the Red Sox are carrying seven left-handed pitchers in an effort to neutralize the Yankees’ lefty-heavy lineup.

The Yankees will attempt to eliminate the Red Sox in the best-of-three playoff series on Wednesday night, with left-hander Max Fried (5-5, 2.80 ERA in 20 starts) set to start Game 2.

The Red Sox plan to counter with right-hander Sonny Gray (18-5, 2.72 ERA), who pitched for the Yankees from 2017-18 and has been vocal about disliking his time in the Bronx.

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