NEW YORK — For the New York Yankees, the franchise with the richest history in baseball, to win their 28th World Series and their first since 2009, they will have to make history.
No team has ever overcome a 3-0 series deficit to win the World Series. Just one club — the Boston Red Sox against the Yankees in the American League Championship Series two decades ago — has completed the comeback in a postseason series at all. But that’s where the Yankees, whose offense has largely vanished on the grandest stage, find themselves after falling 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 focus lies. Hopefully we can go be this amazing story and shock the world.”
What’s been shocking so far in this World Series has been New York’s offensive ineptitude. The Yankees, the American League leaders in runs scored during the regular season, have scored seven runs in the three games. They’re 4-for-20 with runners in scoring position. They’ve left 25 runners on base. They have just one fewer hit than the Dodgers, but have totaled 31 strikeouts to the Dodgers’ 17.
“All it takes is one,” Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge said. “All it takes is one swing, one at-bat, one play, and everything changes. That’s the mindset you got to have.”
At the center of the struggles, though far from the only source, is Judge. The superstar center fielder didn’t appear to be of this planet for most of the summer. He is expected to win the American League 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, running his tally to 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts and a walk 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 felt he was letting his team down. “You want to be getting the hits. You want to be going out there doing your job. But I’m not doing my job right now. So I gotta pick it up.”
The lack of offense combined with early holes have buried the Yankees, who haven’t led since Nestor Cortes surrendered the walk-off grand slam to Freddie Freeman in Game 1. Their deficit in Game 3 began when Clarke Schmidt walked Shohei Ohtani, who was leading off for the Dodgers two days after dislocating his shoulder, on four pitches. Two batters later, Freeman smashed a cutter Schmidt yanked into the seats in right field for a two-run home run.
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’re playing kind of on the back foot a little bit,” Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo said. “We need to get in front of it and have some momentum on our side.”
Verdugo supplied the Yankees’ only runs with a two-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning as fans filtered 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 held New York to two hits over five pristine innings, and six Dodgers relievers.
The Yankees had runners reach base in each of the final four innings. They had rallies end with a questionable send (Stanton getting thrown out at home after doubling in the fourth inning) and a questionable strike three call (Gleyber Torres taking a pitch above the strike zone with two runners on base in the seventh inning). The performance prompted boos from the home crowd in the first World Series game at Yankee Stadium since Nov. 4, 2009.
If there’s one positive to take from Monday it’s that the Yankees saw six Dodgers relievers before their scheduled bullpen 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 have 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 trailing 3-0.
“I don’t see us laying down tomorrow,” first baseman Anthony Rizzo said.
This World Series was as hyped up as any in recent memory. The sport’s two most iconic franchises, representing each coast, adding another chapter to their World Series rivalry after a 43-year hiatus. Hall of Famers populating both rosters. Celebrities dotting the crowds. This series had everything.
But what began with an instant classic in Game 1 could suddenly end with a sweep on Tuesday largely because the Yankees offense has put up too many zeroes. They’ll give the ball to rookie Luis Gil with their season on the line looking to supply him with early run support to ease his burden and begin mounting a historic comeback.
We know the odds are stacked against us,” Cortes said. “But this team is too resilient. I think we’ve shown enough fight in us to come back. If there’s a team out there that can do it, it’ll be us.”