Instead of getting closer to their 28th title, the New York Yankees are about to be swept in the World Series for only the fourth time.
Aaron Judge again struggled at the plate, the starting pitchers faltered for the second game in a row, and the Yankees fell to a 3-0 Series deficit after losing 4-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night.
In the quiet clubhouse, players insisted they could turn things around, even though no team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the World Series.
“All it takes is one,” Judge said. “All it takes is one swing, one at-bat, one play, everything changes for us.” Judge has a disappointing 1 for 12 record (.083) in the Series, with no RBIs and seven strikeouts, and he’s hitting .140 with 20 strikeouts this postseason.
“It’s definitely shocking,” Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes said. “Obviously, you’re talking about one of the best players in the world right now.”
Judge’s career postseason batting average has dropped to .196, with 15 home runs, 31 RBIs, and 86 strikeouts.
“I’m not doing any good for the team,” he said, “so just got to step up, take my walks when I can, drive the baseball if I get something to hit.”
New York has managed just nine hits in the last two games, with only three being for extra bases, and they struck out 11 times on Monday, four of those looking.
The bottom four hitters in the lineup are a combined 6 for 43 with three RBIs, which includes Alex Verdugo’s two-run homer in the ninth off Michael Kopech. Yankees hitters are 4 for 20 with runners in scoring position.
“It stinks,” Anthony Rizzo said about the Yankees’ situation. “It’s not going to be easy, for sure.”
Even New York’s bats are easy targets. When Anthony Volpe struck out against Daniel Hudson in the seventh inning, his bat flew over the Dodgers’ dugout. It hit the protective netting for fans in the prime seats, and LA field coordinator Bob Geren caught the bat as it bounced back.
“We’re playing kind of on the back foot a little bit,” Verdugo said.
In the Yankees’ first World Series home game since 2009, their best chance to recover from an early deficit came in the fourth inning when Giancarlo Stanton hit a double while the Dodgers led 3-0.
Volpe then got a two-out single, and Stanton was sent home by third base coach Luis Rojas. Teoscar Hernández made a perfect one-hop throw, and Stanton, who isn’t very fast, was tagged out by catcher Will Smith.
“In that situation, two outs, you gotta roll the dice on it,” Stanton said.
New York looks like the team that went 10-23 from mid-June to late July, not the one that started 50-22 and went on to win the AL East and its 41st pennant. In a Series with not much offense, the Yankees have been outscored 14-7, outhit .213 to .186, and outhomered 5-3.
“Hopefully we can go be this amazing story and shock the world,” Boone said. “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.”
Since winning the first two games of the 1981 Series at home against the Dodgers, the Yankees have lost seven straight to Los Angeles in the World Series.
After being one out away from winning the opener 3-2 in 10 innings, the Yankees have been outscored 12-4 since in this Series. Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt combined for only six innings in Games 2 and 3.
Schmidt walked Shohei Ohtani on four pitches to start the game, and Freddie Freeman followed with a two-run homer.
“Ended up pulling the cutter across the zone,” Schmidt said.
New York has only been swept three times in the World Series, by the 1922 New York Giants (including a tie game), the 1963 Dodgers, and the 1976 Cincinnati Reds.
“If that team wins three in a row, then why can’t we win three in a row?” Verdugo said.
