Losing 2-0, the Yankees leave Los Angeles with a struggling captain but a promise to return

LOS ANGELES – The photos that line the hallways of the Visitors' clubhouse appear designed to aid the enemy at Dodger Stadium. Check out all the wonderful feats you can accomplish here! Hit home runs over the right field pavilion like Willie Stargell! Win a pennant from the Los Angeles Dodgers like Jack Clark! Turn a perfect game like Dennis Martinez!

The 2024 New York Yankees could end up on these walls one day. After two dizzying Hollywood evenings, they know one thing: To win this World Series, they have to make it here.

The Yankees are down two games to zero after a 4-2 loss to Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Dodgers in Game 2 on Saturday. The Dodgers are halfway home — as Joe Davis says in every broadcast after the end of the fifth inning — but their history in these spots works against them.

In the 1956 World Series, the Dodgers won the first two games against the Yankees in Brooklyn but lost seven. In 1978, they beat the Yankees twice in Los Angeles and then lost four straight.

“I’m excited to get back to New York, I’m excited to get back to our fans,” Yankees captain Aaron Judge said. “It’s a seven-game series for a reason.”

Of course, technically it's best-of-seven, meaning this World Series could be over as soon as Tuesday if the Dodgers win Games 3 and 4. Hey, that happens too – another Yankees captain, Thurman Munson, was swept in his first World Series, against Cincinnati in 1976.

Munson was the American League MVP this season, and he will be Judge again this year. There's one key difference, though: Munson was a terror in the postseason, with 19 hits in 40 at-bats. This postseason, Judge has 19 Strikeouts in 40 at-bats. He is batting .150 with two home runs.

“That’s baseball, that’s how it goes,” first baseman Anthony Rizzo said. “He is our leader, he is our captain. The narrative is whatever it is, but he's a wall. He knows how to deal with all of these things. I’m proud of who he is as a person and as a leader, and these times shape him even more because he comes in every day and is still the same person he always was.”

At least in the postseason, that's concerning. Because for all of his exceptional success in the regular season, Judge was almost always less productive in October.

Of the 70 players in baseball history to have over 200 postseason at-bats, two hit less than .200

Aaron Richter
Reggie Sanders

— Jay Cuda (@JayCuda) October 27, 2024

The strikeouts are perhaps what stands out the most. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Judge now has a record 11 career postseason games with at least three strikeouts. As hopeless as Alex Rodriguez often was in October (he hit .240 in the postseason for the Yankees), he only lasted six such games.

“Just expanding the zone, that’s what it really comes down to,” said Judge, who is batting .199 in his postseason career. “That’s what it really comes down to: getting a pitch in the zone and pushing it forward. If not, it’s difficult to make a difference.”

Other Yankees hitters are also struggling. Catcher Austin Wells is hitting .098 this postseason, and right-hander Jose Trevino pinch-hit him at the end of Game 2 when he struck out against left-hander Alex Vesia. After excelling in the ALCS, Anthony Volpe went hitless in two games here, returning a hanging slider in the ninth before exiting.

The Yankees left runners in scoring position in the first two innings of Game 1 and the first inning of Game 2. They left the bases loaded in the sixth inning of the opener and the ninth inning on Saturday. An offense that led the majors in bases on balls yielded just three unintentional walks against the Dodgers.

“We’re all a little worried,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. admitted. “It’s the first two World Series games of our career. I have a feeling when we get home we’ll feel a little more confident and calm.”

On the other hand, emotions are often converted into results after the fact. In the opening game, the Yankees went from winning to losing on the last pitch; Had Nestor Cortes retired Freddie Freeman – instead of allowing a Grand Slam – it would be a different narrative.

Rizzo was a linchpin for the 2016 Chicago Cubs, who lost three of the first four games of the World Series. They rallied to win Game 5 at home, then took the final two games in Cleveland to claim the crown. Rizzo kept the mood relaxed at the time and warned his teammates before the last three games with rousing clubhouse speeches – naked.

At least in the clubhouse after Game 2, Rizzo kept his clothes on; If he's planning another striptease, he hasn't mentioned it. But the Yankees' stance, he said, must be consistent with Chicago's stance.

“The attitude was: If we win a game, everything will take care of itself,” Rizzo said. “We have to win on Monday, that’s the important thing. We have to put pressure on them. They'll enjoy a nice flight to New York tonight, and rightly so – they're up 2-0 in a historic World Series.

“The Dodgers played really well and you can’t take anything away from them. But inside everyone’s eyes are like this: This is far from over.”

The Yankees need to play like they mean it, but they say the right things, and not just to reporters.

As Judge left the clubhouse Saturday, he handed the guard a tip.

“See you soon,” Judge said.

(Top photo of Aaron Judge in Game 2: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)