BRONX, NY — Things cannot look much grimmer for the New York Yankees after another uninspiring loss on Monday night at Yankee Stadium dropped them in an 0-3 hole against the Los Angeles Dodgers at the 2024 World Series.
One more loss means their season is over, and a three-game deficit at the World Series has meant certain doom. Thirty-nine of 40 teams have won their postseason series after taking a 3-0 lead. Every team up 3-0 has also gone on to win the World Series.
The Yankees are grasping at the idea that they can become the first team to do just that, though it feels like a certain lock that the Dodgers will be celebrating a title in the next few days.
“We all know what’s at stake,” struggling slugger Aaron Judge said. “Our backs are up against the wall. We have to get going. We have a lot of veteran guys that have done that before. We just have to make sure we play the game we’ve been playing all year long.”
But the Yankees have looked like a shell of their former 2024 selves that won the American League pennant. Judge has been a non-factor in the series and is now 1-for-12 with nine strikeouts while his side has been held to just seven runs across three World Series games.
“You want to be getting the hits, you want to be going out there and doing your job,” Judge said. “I’m not doing my job. I have to pick it up.”
To win four games in a row, they have to start with the first one and take it slowly every game after that. It is a cliched and overplayed notion, but a one-at-a-time mindset is the only thing that can work right now against a juggernaut Dodgers club.
“In our heads, it’s just win one game,” Judge said. “That’s how it starts. We’re down 3-0, if we win one game, you never know what’s going to happen the next couple. It’s about looking to the next game… that’s all we got.”
Perhaps desperation and some urgency can help the Yankees establish some momentum against the Dodgers in Game 4, set for Tuesday night in the Bronx.
“I don’t see us just laying down tomorrow,” veteran first baseman Anthony Rizzo said. “I expect us to show up and be ready to go and just one game… It’s not going to be easy, for sure. We have to pull some inspiration from somewhere.”
When asked where that inspiration might come from, catcher Jose Trevino said “I think it comes from within. I think you have to dig deep. The reason why we play this game is to be in the situation that we’re in. I know every guy is going to look at himself int he mirror and give everything he has for [Game 4].”
The Yankees have appeared in 40 other World Series and have been swept just twice. A win in Game 4 at least avoids the dubious honor of being the first team swept out of a Fall Classic since the San Francisco Giants won four straight over the Detroit Tigers in 2012.
“We’re trying to get a game tomorrow, OK? That’s where our focus lies,” Boone said. “Hopefully,we can go be this amazing story and shock the world, but right now, it’s about trying to get a lead, trying to grab a game, and force another one, and then on from there. But we’ve got to grab one first. “
