NEW YORK — Cam Schlittler baffled Boston batters and Ben Rice blasted two home runs to spark a New York Yankees triumph on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila), while Pope Leo XIV sent support to his hometown Chicago White Sox ahead of their Major League Baseball (MLB) playoff victory. Atlanta’s Austin Riley delivered a triumph with a three-run homer, and San Diego thrashed the Chicago Cubs, as the MLB postseason began with best-of-three wildcard series openers. At New York, Rice smashed a grand slam and a solo homer while right-hander Schlittler mystified the Red Sox, striking out 10 while allowing only two hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings in a masterpiece 9-0 shutout. “Just thrilled it left the yard to get four runs,” Rice said of his grand slam. “This is what you dream about, Yankees-Red Sox playoff game in New York.” The Yankees, missing slugger Aaron Judge due to a calf strain, saw Rice homer in the fifth, single home a run in the seventh and smash a bases-loaded homer in the eighth. Austin Wells drove in two runs, Luis Garcia plated a run hitting into a double play, and Schlittler threw a career-high 117 pitches to silence Red Sox hitters. New York leads the American League series, 1-0, with the winner facing Tampa Bay. The White Sox, of whom the pope is a lifelong fan, beat Houston, 6-3. A social media post by the White Sox showed an inspirational letter received on Tuesday from the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. “I willingly invoke the Almighty’s abundant blessings upon you and your loved ones,” the pope wrote to White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf. Divine intervention or not, the White Sox dominated. Sam Antonacci put the White Sox ahead to stay by scoring on Munetaka Murakami’s first-inning sacrifice fly. Antonacci added a two-run single in the second, Colson Montgomery hit a solo homer in the fourth and Chase Meidroth’s bases-loaded single in the fifth made it 5-0. Houston’s Nelson Velazquez smacked a two-run homer in the fifth and each team added a run on an error to create the final margin. After the victory, the White Sox posted, “Abundantly blessed.” “We’ll take it,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “The pope having our back and supporting us means a lot.” In the National League, Riley’s homer in the eighth inning gave the host Braves a 5-3 victory over Philadelphia. Trailing 3-2, Atlanta won after Michael Harris singled, took second base after Ozzie Albies was hit by a pitch ahead of Riley smashing a home run to right field off Phillies relief pitcher Jhoan Duran.