The New York Yankees are staring down the barrel of elimination, trapped in an 0-2 ALDS hole against the Tampa Bay Rays. After two brutal games, it’s hard to even recognize this team. Game 1 saw them no-hit into the eighth inning by Rays ace Drew Rasmussen, and then Game 2 was an absolute nightmare with what can only be described as Little League-level defense. It’s an embarrassing display, plain and simple, and manager Aaron Boone isn’t mincing words.
Rock Bottom and the Mountain to Climb
“Obviously, a really rough night to say the least for us,” Boone said after that Game 2 disaster. He’s right, it was rough. And now, they’ve gotta figure out how to climb out of it. “We’ve got to get over it. We’ve responded all year to difficult times, and we’ve got to do that again. We’ve got to get ourselves up off the mat.” Easier said than done when you consider the history books. Only 10 teams have ever rallied from an 0-2 deficit to win a best-of-five series. And in the 2-2-1 Division Series format, where they lost both road games, only three teams in 36 instances have pulled off that kind of comeback. The last team to do it was actually Aaron Judge’s 2017 Yankees against Cleveland. But here’s the kicker: Judge himself is out with an injury, left off the ALDS roster, making that 2017 link feel pretty thin.
Boone knows the score, though. “It starts one play, one inning at a time,” he emphasized. “We can’t play like that and expect a win. We’ve got to come out Wednesday night, everything’s on the line. It’s obviously all hands on deck, and we’ve got to try and get one. And then go from there. We’re capable of doing it. This team has been really good at picking themselves up all year.” Capable, sure. But they gotta prove it.
Pitching Has to be More Than “Solid Enough”
Strangely enough, pitching hasn’t been the *main* problem. The Rays are only hitting .209/.261/.313 through two games, and three of their six runs were actually unearned. Gerrit Cole and Cam Schlittler have been “solid enough.” But “solid enough” isn’t going to cut it when your season is on the line. To force a Game 4, let alone complete a comeback, the pitching needs to be lights out.
History shows this too. The three teams that came back from 0-2 road deficits in the 2-2-1 format era all had a phenomenal Game 3 start. Masahiro Tanaka for the Yankees in 2017, Derek Lowe for the Red Sox in 2003, and Ramon Martinez for the Red Sox in 1999, all delivered strong outings to kickstart their team’s rally. That’s the blueprint. So, all eyes are on Max Fried, who threw six shutout innings in his Wild Card Series start, as he takes the mound for Game 3 on Wednesday. If they can snatch a win there, Carlos Rodón, who was the team’s second-best starter behind Schlittler the last two months of the regular season, will get the ball for a potential Game 4 on Thursday.
It’s all on the line Wednesday night in the Bronx. Everything. They gotta get one. Just one. Then we can talk about Game 4.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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