Yankees face prospect of 17th season without World Series title
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Max Fried’s words were as sharp as the break on some of his pitches.
“It’s important to have a little bit of pride and to be able to say: `That’s not us and we’re going to prove it,'” the New York Yankees pitcher said.
After making four errors in a dismal Game 2 defeat, New York’s players and staff arrived home about 5 a.m. Tuesday in a 2-0 AL Division Series deficit for the second straight year, this time against the Tampa Bay Rays. The best-of-five matchup resumes tonight in the Bronx with Fried starting for the Yankees and Nick Martinez for the Rays.
With one more loss to Tampa Bay, the World Series title drought for Major League Baseball’s winningest team would extend to a 17th season -- matching the most since Babe Ruth led New York to its first championship in 1923. New York hasn’t advanced past a higher-seeded team in a postseason series since 2020.
“This group has done a really good job all year of bouncing back through a tough game, through some tough moments in the season and handled it all very well. So that’s my expectation this time. It has to be,” said manager Aaron Boone, who spoke with players individually rather than give a rah-rah speech.
Tampa Bay could party at Yankee Stadium for the second time in two weeks, after clinching the AL East on Sept 22.
Seeking their first World Series title, the Rays are nearing an American League Championship Series against the Chicago White Sox or Cleveland. They haven’t advanced that far since 2020, when they lost in the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Martinez used to sit in the Yankee Stadium bleachers when he played college ball from 2009-11 at Fordham University, located about 5 miles away.
“I imagine it’s going to be an electric crowd with their season on the line,” he said.
Teams taking 2-0 leads in best-of-five postseason series have won 83 of 93 times, according to MLB. The last comeback from an 0-2 deficit was the 2017 Yankees against Cleveland.
“There’s no taking games off,” Rays outfielder Jonny DeLuca said. “Obviously taking the first two has put us in a really good spot, but it’s still the same mindset going forward.”
Third baseman Ryan McMahon, second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., shortstop George Lombard Jr. and catcher Austin Wells all made errors in Game 3 that led to three unearned runs in New York’s 5-2 loss.
In addition, Lombard didn’t field Chandler Simpson’s two-hopper and right fielder Spencer Jones allowed Jonathan Aranda’s liner -- a ball with 65% hit probability -- to fall starting the fifth, which sparked a four-run inning.
“It was just one of those things that it all kind of happened back-to-back-to back,” Lombard said.
Throwing errors by McMahon and Chisholm in the first along with a catcher’s interference call against Wells gave the Yankees their first three-error postseason inning.
“It didn’t seem like we really showed up today,” pitcher Cam Schlittler said.
New York’s players in the third through seventh spots of the batting order went 0 for 33 with 11 strikeouts in the first two games: Luis García Jr., Jones, Lombard, Chisholm and Trent Grisham.