‘Everything’s on the line’: Yankees return home desperate to save ALDS

By admin — In News — October 6, 2026

   ​The Yankees’ backs are against the wall after Monday’s 5-2 ALDS Game 2 loss at the Tampa Bay Rays.”We didn’t get it done,” said left fielder Cody Bellinger, whose bases-loaded flyout to deep center field ended the fifth inning and kept the game tied at 1-1. “We had opportunities.”New York committed four errors while ace right-hander Cam Schlittler did not have his best stuff.”These guys work their asses off all year to get to a position like today,” said Schlittler, who allowed four runs (two earned) on six hits while striking out two and walking one in 4.1 innings pitched. “We expect a lot out of each other. It’s been great all year, but we just didn’t play our brand of baseball and I know we can play better baseball than that and that starts with me on the mound. We’ve got to flush it and get ready for Wednesday.”The best-of-five series heads to Yankee Stadium for Wednesday’s 8 p.m. Game 3 with left-hander Max Fried set as the Yankees’ starting pitcher.”An opportunity to do something great,” said New York manager Aaron Boone. “But it starts one play, one inning at a time. We can’t play like that and expect to win, so 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. We’ve faced some really tough moments. Talked about them having a lot of grit — they’ve had that all year. We need to find it right now.”Third baseman Ryan McMahon echoed Boone’s message as the Yankees exit Tropicana Field in an 0-2 hole.”It hasn’t been won yet,” McMahon said. “We’ll see that. We’ll regroup, respect the loss. Everybody here is a little pissed off, a little upset, but we’re where we’re at and there’s still some games left.”A team has not come back from down 0-2 and won a best-of-five series since the Yankees in the 2017 ALDS when they lost their first two games at the Cleveland Guardians but won the next three to reach the ALCS.”Definitely going to be a challenge,” said designated hitter Ben Rice, whose two solo home runs Monday were New York’s only source of offense. “Going down 2-0 doesn’t feel good. It’s on us to find our way out of it.”  

Content Source: Yahoo News

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