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Jorge Castillo, ESPN editor
NEW YORK — For the New York Yankees, the franchise with baseball’s richest history, to win their 28th World Series and first since 2009, they will have to make history.
No team has ever overcome a 3-0 deficit to win the World Series. Only one club – the Boston Red Sox against the Yankees in the American League Championship Series two decades ago – has made a comeback in a postseason. But that’s where the Yankees find themselves, whose offense has largely disappeared on the biggest stage, after losing 4-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 at Yankee Stadium on Monday. The quest to become the first team to defy the odds in the World Series begins with Game 4 on Tuesday.
“We’re trying to get a game tomorrow,” Boone said. “OK? That’s where our goal is. I hope we can tell this incredible story and shock the world.”
What has been shocking so far in this World Series is New York’s offensive ineptitude. The Yankees, the AL leader in runs scored during the regular season, scored seven runs in three games. They are 4 of 20 with runners in scoring position. They left 25 runners on base. They have just one fewer hit than the Dodgers, but have totaled 31 strikeouts to the Dodgers’ 17.
“You just have to have one,” Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge said. “All it takes is one shot, one shot, one play, and everything changes. That’s the mindset you have to have.”
At the center of the struggles, though far from the only source, is Judge. The superstar center fielder didn’t seem to be on this planet for most of the summer. He should win the AL MVP unanimously. He looked better at the plate in Game 3 than in Game 2, but he still went hitless with a strikeout and a walk, bringing his total to 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts and a walk on walks in the World Series and 6-for-43 (.140) with a .580 OPS and 20 strikeouts in 12 postseason games.
“Yeah, definitely,” Judge said when asked if he thought he was letting his team down. “You want to get the hits. You want to go do your job. But I’m not doing my job right now. So I have to take it back.”
The lack of attack combined with the first holes buried the Yankees, who have not led since Nestor Cortes gave up the grand slam to Freddie Freeman in the first game. Their Game 3 deficit began when Clarke Schmidt walked Shohei Ohtani, who was leading off the Dodgers two days after dislocating his shoulder, on four pitches. Two batters later, Freeman smashed a cutter that Schmidt fired into the seats in right field for a two-run homer.
Schmidt allowed another run in the third inning before exiting with two outs in the frame. The right-hander threw 68 pitches to record eight outs.
“We play a little bit behind,” Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo said. “We need to take the lead and have some momentum on our side.”
Verdugo provided the Yankees’ only runs with a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning as fans filed out of the stadium. Giancarlo Stanton went 2-for-4 with a double. The rest of the team went 3 for 27 against Walker Buehler, who limited New York to two hits in five clean innings and six Dodgers relievers.
The Yankees allowed runners to reach base in each of the last four innings. Their exchanges ended with a questionable sendout (Stanton was thrown out at home after double in the fourth inning) and a questionable strike call (Gleyber Torres taking a pitch above the strike zone with two runners on base in the seventh inning). The performance drew boos from the home crowd in the first World Series game at Yankee Stadium since November 4, 2009.
If there’s one positive takeaway from Monday, it’s that the Yankees saw six Dodgers relievers before their scheduled game Wednesday. The reps, they hope, will lead to production. History is not on their side. Each of the last nine teams to take a 3-0 lead in the World Series has completed a sweep, according to ESPN Research. The last team to force a Game 5 was the Cincinnati Reds in 1970 against the Baltimore Orioles. A team has never forced a game 6 after leading 3-0.
“I don’t see us going to bed tomorrow,” first baseman Anthony Rizzo said.
This World Series was as high-profile as any in recent memory. Sports’ two most iconic franchises, representing each coast, add a new chapter to their World Series rivalry after a 43-year hiatus. Hall of Famers populate both rosters. Celebrities dot the crowd. This series had everything.
But what started as an instant classic in Game 1 could suddenly end in a sweep Tuesday, largely because the Yankees’ offense has scored too many zeroes. They will give rookie Luis Gil the ball with their season on the line and look to provide him with some early support to ease his burden and begin to mount a historic comeback.
We know the odds are against us,” Cortes said. “But this team is too resilient. I think we showed enough fighting spirit to come back. If there is a team that can do it, it will be us. »
