ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Down 1-0 in a best-of-five AL Division Series, the Yankees could not ask for a better potential savior than Cam Schlittler in Game 2. 

Surprised by a sold-out, Rays-heavy crowd at Tropicana Field in Game 1, at a location that Schlittler himself said before the game usually is akin to “playing at home,” the Yankees could not ask for a pitcher better equipped to channel that energy and those jeers into brilliance. 

“I prefer to be booed,” Schlittler said earlier this season. “It’s fun. It gets more intense. … I feed off of that.” 

His numbers support his preference. In the history of baseball — at least since 1913 — there has not been a pitcher who opened his career with superior numbers while pitching in enemy territory. 

Yes, the front-runner for the American League Cy Young Award has pitched well everywhere, but his 1.52 ERA in his first 23 career starts on the road is the lowest by any major league pitcher in the past 113 years. 

And this season, Road Schlittler was even better, going 8-2 in 17 starts with a 1.16 ERA that marked the fifth-lowest road mark in one campaign since 1913. His company: Bob Gibson’s 0.81 ERA in 1968, Walter Johnson’s 1.06 ERA in 1913 and 1.13 ERA in 1918, and Greg Maddux’s 1.12 ERA in 1995. 

“I don’t know why the splits are the way they were,” Schlittler said Saturday, before the Yankees dropped Game 1, 1-0, at a ballpark that turned into an advantage for the home team. “But at the same time, I feel like I pitched really good at home in the back end. On the road, I feel like, again, going into an away crowd and silencing that is a great feeling.” 

Boston fans can attest that even the most hostile atmospheres cannot shake and might even inspire Schlittler. 

Which means Monday, when the Yankees give the ball to their ace of aces in a game of utmost importance, his opponent will not be Rays fans but the actual opponent: a Rays lineup that is built to annoy. 

Schlittler struck out the third-most hitters in baseball (239) with the fourth-best qualified rate (31.4 percent). The Rays were the most difficult team to strike out (18.8 percent) and brought that reputation to October: Against Gerrit Cole, Ryan Weathers, Paul Blackburn and Brent Headrick in Game 1, they put 25 balls in play and struck out just five times. 

“I’m still confident in my strikeout stuff,” said Schlittler, who this year pitched to a 2.81 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 16 innings against Tampa Bay. “I feel like if I need to get one, I’m going to be able to do that. 

“So the game plan doesn’t change. But I’m always willing to sacrifice strikeouts for weak-contact, quick outs.” 

This October has brought obvious parallels to last October.

Last year, Schlittler pitched historically great against the Red Sox before facing the contact-heavy AL East champions, against whom his effectiveness dipped. He was solid against the Blue Jays — 6 ¹/₃ innings in which he was charged with four runs (two earned), with two scoring after he exited the game in the seventh inning — but not as dominant. 

Which will be worth remembering Monday, especially after Schlittler threw a career-high 117 pitches in his Game 1 victory over the Red Sox. 

“Last year hasn’t really crossed my mind,” Schlittler said when asked about that loss to Toronto. “I’m confident in what we’ve done as a team this year, and I’m going to make sure I take that into Monday.” 

Saturday, Cole was good. The Yankees bullpen was better. And it didn’t matter, given the Yankees lineup did nothing against Drew Rasmussen and Bryan Baker. 

With such a slim margin for error, they are grateful they will trust a pitcher who has begun his career by evoking Gibson, Johnson and Maddux. 

“We’re obviously always thrilled when we hand the ball to Cam,” manager Aaron Boone said, “and hopefully we can go out and put some points on the board, though, to support him.”