World Series 2024: The Yankees win the first of a possible four games in a row and want to do the impossible – “Who doesn't want to make history?”

NEW YORK – You have to start somewhere.

As manager Aaron Boone and several players preached after Monday's 4-2 loss, which fell into the dreaded 3-0 gap in the World Series against the Dodgers, the Yankees can't come back all at once. It requires a special focus on the game in front of them, while recognizing that there is still much to do beyond that. And if the Yankees are to become the first team in MLB history to come back from a 3-0 deficit in the World Series – an uphill battle that comes after New York's 11-4 victory over the Dodgers on Tuesday in the Bronx only requires three more wins – they need to carry on the positives from Game 4 and find more opportunities to play their best ball before it's too late.

“We started this year winning four games in a row,” senior first baseman Anthony Rizzo said before Game 4. “We know we are very capable of winning four games in a row. Hopefully we can finish this year by winning four games in a row. That’s what we have to do to become champions.”

In fact, the Yankees began the regular season with five straight wins, the first of eight winning streaks of at least four games in the 162-game season. New York added a ninth such streak earlier this month when it closed the ALDS with two wins at Kansas City before opening the ALCS with two wins against Cleveland. So yeah, this group is well versed in catching fire and gathering a quartet of Ws in a hurry.

Even more disheartening is an opponent that has lost four games in a row just twice this season: a five-game exit in late May and a four-game loss in mid-July.

“There’s no way the Dodgers are going to back down,” Rizzo said. “They are a really good team. But we win tonight, we get to play tomorrow.”

The Yankees won on Tuesday, so they get to play on Wednesday.

In the end, it was a comfortable win, but it wasn't the smoothest start for the Yankees in their quest to avoid elimination. Freddie Freeman gave the Dodgers a quick 2-0 lead with another home run – his fourth of the series – to right field off Yankees starter Luis Gil. Anthony Volpe failed to score from second after repelling a booming double off the centerfield wall from Austin Wells, limiting the rally to one run in the second inning when it could have been more. In the first few innings, the mood at Yankee Stadium went in the wrong direction, just as it had 24 hours earlier.

But everything changed at the end of the third period when the Yankees put together a rally against Dodgers reliever Daniel Hudson that culminated in a grand slam by Volpe, securing a 5-2 lead and sending the Bronx into utter chaos. It was a memorable swing that more than made up for Volpe's baserunning blunder an inning earlier and gave a measure of energy – and relief – to a Yankees dugout that had been longing for such a moment all series.

“The big hit we were looking for happened,” outfielder Alex Verdugo said afterward. “And it just felt like a deep exhale in the dugout and everyone could play freely and relaxed again.”

Volpe's grand slam was one of two particularly encouraging displays of power from young Yankees bats in Game 4, the other coming in the bottom of the sixth when rookie catcher Austin Wells launched a drive down the right field line into the upper deck, followed by a solo home run from a smooth batflip. Wells was 4-for-43 in 12 postseason games, but after subbing the rookie in favor of Jose Trevino for Game 3, Boone put Wells back in the lineup for Game 4 and reaped the rewards of his performance potential in a big way.

In a game where Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton – who have carried the Yankees' lineup for most of October – provided relatively little, it was extremely refreshing to see other parts of the Yankees' lineup step up in crucial moments . Until Game 4, the bottom half of the lineup played no role for New York, while the Dodgers received contributions from virtually everyone in their batting order. If the Yankees can continue to get more out of their weaker hitters — not to mention more out of their best hitter, Aaron Judge — these lineups will suddenly look a little more balanced.

The Dodgers remained within striking distance for most of Tuesday's game, but the Yankees' pitching staff kept them at bay until New York's offense exploded for five runs in the eighth inning, snuffing out any potential late drama. The good vibes – and a certain level of confidence – were restored to the stadium and the players could feel it.

“The atmosphere was electric,” said right-hander Luke Weaver, New York's breakout bullpen arm, who collected more than three outs for the seventh time this postseason. “It just feels good for the team to understand what that feels like, to regain some of the tension or what we felt in the CS, in the DS.”

With the Yankees ahead by two runs, Weaver came into the game with two outs in the seventh and a runner on second base and hit Mookie Betts to end the frame before resurfacing for the eighth run, making the 3-4-5 Dodgers hitters – Freeman, Teoscar Hernández and Max Muncy – in order.

“Just understanding that we’re a good team,” Weaver added. “And sometimes baseball is weird, but when you have it you just don’t want it to go away. So we have to continue to build on that.”

Weaver was the most impressive cog in another strong performance from the Yankees' bullpen, which has repeatedly improved this postseason, a trend that must continue. Tommy Kahnle and Jake Cousins ​​were the only two of Boone's preferred substitutes who didn't play in Game 4 and therefore could be particularly fresh for Game 5, but they are expected to be in another elimination game and with all hands -on deck Next Thursday is a day off should the series continue. On the other hand, the top players in the Dodgers' bullpen will be rested after Dave Roberts opted to use a very select selection of weapons after playing from behind in Game 4.

How much reliance will be placed on either bullpen in Game 5 will depend on the rematch of Game 1's starting pitchers: Gerrit Cole and Jack Flaherty. Cole was better than Flaherty back then, but not by much; Flaherty allowed two runs over 5 1/3 innings while Cole allowed one run over six innings. Round 2 between the two right-handers features very different stakes than the first edition, where both starters hoped to set the tone in the series only to see Game 1 veer off course.

On Wednesday, Flaherty, who has had alternating strong and subpar performances in his four starts this October, can put his team in position to secure the World Series in what may be his final start as a Dodger, with another attempt as a free agent in the coming period Players waiting for him weeks. All the ingredients are there for Cole to make another outstanding start to his storied career, albeit one that would bring the Yankees just one game closer to the impossible.

That the Yankees have made it this far after a disappointing first three games is already an achievement: The last nine teams to fall 3-0 in the World Series have been defeated in the end, with the 1970 Reds being the last team to do so Down 3-0 -0 to force a Game 5. But the Yankees are hardly happy.

“It's not going to be easy, but we're built for this,” said Jazz Chisholm Jr. “After we lost Game 3, we said, 'Hey, who doesn't want to make history?'”

For Chisholm, who spent time after the game praising his teammates and evoking particular excitement over his friend Anthony Volpe's grand slam, it's about approaching the unknown road ahead as both an opportunity and a challenge understand.

“I know that I love making history. I love putting my name in the history books and being a part of it. So let’s do it.”

As various Yankees players took turns reacting to Game 4 amid the crush of microphones and cameras in the home clubhouse, a television loomed above them with a brief to-do list:

“WIN TOMORROW, FLY THURSDAY.”