Yankees Confident in Comeback vs Jays at Home: ALDS Heating Up

TORONTO – After two consecutive losses in Toronto, the New York Yankees find themselves in a critical situation as they return home for Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Tuesday night. The Yankees manager, Aaron Boone, maintained an optimistic attitude after Sunday’s 13-7 loss in Game 2, which left his team on the brink of elimination.

Obviously, it seems like the world is coming down on you. Losing two games like that in your field, where things don’t go well,” Boone said. “But suddenly, you go out and win a game on Tuesday, and the situation can change. Many strange things have happened in baseball this year. It wouldn’t be the strangest thing for us to recover.

Aaron Boone, Yankees manager

New York couldn’t connect any hits for 5⅔ innings on Sunday, failing to generate anything against Blue Jays rookie Trey Yesavage. The Blue Jays defeated the Yankees 10-1 on Saturday in Game 1. Toronto’s 23 runs in the American League Division Series so far are the most for any team in the first two games of a postseason series. The Yankees scored 22 runs in the first two games of the 2020 Wild Card round against Cleveland. New York has lost eight of nine games in Toronto this season, but has a 4-2 home record against the Blue Jays.

“We haven’t lost confidence,” Boone said. “Obviously, they’ve outplayed us and beaten us so far this year, but I don’t think anyone on our team doesn’t feel like we can go out and beat them. We have to play better. We have to pitch and hit better. But we certainly are capable of doing it, and we expect to do it on Tuesday night.

Aaron Boone, Yankees manager

New York was taken to the limit by Boston in the wild card round and has seen its bullpen tested in the first two games of the American League Division Series, with seven relievers combining for 10⅔ innings. The Yankees’ left-handed pitcher, Max Fried, who was replaced after more than three innings on Sunday, praised the Blue Jays for making the New York pitchers’ job difficult. “They’ve had good at-bats against us all year,” Fried said. “That’s a good baseball team. They don’t strike out, they put the ball in play, and they play good defense. They’re playing their game, and they’ve had a good series so far.”