It's officially do-or-die time for the New York Yankees. Their backs are against the wall, there is no tomorrow, and they've got to do the impossible. They have to take it one game at a time, and overcome the odds, but they're playing with house money tonight so all that's left is to go out and do it.
Did I cover all the cliches for the 0-3 hole the Yanks are in? Good. Glad that's out of the way. In all seriousness, the Yankees are in the best possible situation they could be for a must-win game tonight. They're got their ace on the mound, they've got their 2 best relief pitchers rested and available for 2 innings apiece if needed, and they've got a lineup that at least showed the ability to battle last night against the best pitcher on the planet. That doesn't change the fact that a win tonight only guarantees them one more day of must-win-ness, but it's something.
It's as simple as it could possibly be. The Yankees need to win tonight or their season is over. No stats needed to support that, no arguments for or against anything, and no looking ahead to the next situation. Win tonight or it's curtains.
Updated Starting Lineups (4:25PM)-
NYY: 1) Ichiro- LF, 2) Swish- RF, 3) Cano- 2B, 4) Teix- 1B, 5) Ibanez- DH, 6) Chavez- 3B, 7) Martin- C, 8) Gardner- CF, 9) Nunez- SS
DET: 1) Jackson- CF, 2) Infante- 2B, 3) Cabrera- 3B, 4) Fielder- 1B, 5) Young- DH, 6) Peralta- SS, 7) Dirks- LF, 8) Garcia- RF, 9) Laird- C
Pitching Matchup-
CC Sabathia (17.2 IP, 12 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 16 K in 2 postseason starts) vs. Max Scherzer (5.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K in 1 postseason start)
Three Juan Soto Jokes
1 hour ago