Cubs legend Anthony Rizzo calls the Yankees' Game 3 a must-win – and he would know it

If anyone on the New York Yankees roster knows the team's urgency when the World Series shifts to New York for Game 3, it's first baseman (and former Chicago Cubs legend) Anthony Rizzo.

Rizzo's experience on that stage is the kind of secret weapon the Yankees could use when they return to the Bronx at 0-2 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. After all, Rizzo knows what it takes to pull off a historic rally with a title on the line: Rizzo helped the Cubbies end a 107-year title drought in 2016 when Chicago bounced back from a 3-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians. And as you would expect from such an experienced player, he preached patience ahead of the biggest game of the year so far.

“It ain’t over ‘til it’s over,” Rizzo said, according to a report from MLB.com. “This is a seven-game series. We've had a four-game winning streak many times. We were often 4-1. At the end of the day, it’s all about winning a ballgame.”

It sounds easy when you say it like that, but based on Games 1 and 2, New York has some work to do.

The most glaring problem for the Yankees right now is simple: Aaron Judge hasn't been quite the hitter he usually is. The future AL MVP currently has one hit in nine at-bats in this series. He was also beaten six times in the first two games. If he doesn't start throwing punches, as he put it, the Yankees will have a lot of trouble getting out of the 0-3 hole.

It also means Rizzo may still have some magic left to energize the Yankees. As he said in MLB history, this game doesn't necessarily mean the series is over. But it's much easier to come back from two games down than from three.

The Yankees will also need a lot more timely hits. They are currently batting .197 as a team across the two games. That's not enough. While there were some bright spots with Juan Soto, Gleyber Torres and Giancarlo Stanton, this lineup didn't quite get it together, with too many bad at-bats in crucial spots and too many automatic outs at the bottom of the order.

Not everything is lost here either. And honestly, it feels like a perfect reset for the Yankees. That means if they don't win here, they're more likely to get defeated than win the whole thing.