The Yankees are back in the Bronx hoping a return home and another shuffling of the lineup can lead to their offense finally coming alive in the posteason.
The Yanks are banged up without DJ LeMahieu and Andrew Benintendi, have a rusty Matt Carpenter who was out two months before the playoffs began, and established hitters like Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres continue to slump.
But Aaron Boone says the Yankees can’t press just because it is the postseason, and still believes his group can break out.
“Playoffs is hard, man,” Boone said. “And we're up against probably the best pitching staff there is going right now, so there's going to be some bumps in that. We've gone up against [Justin] Verlander, Framber [Valdez]. We've gotten two runs in each game. It hasn't been quite enough. It's hard this time of year. You got to just keep powering through it, game plan as best as you can.
“We got a different challenge today and a different kind of look from [Christian] Javier. Hopefully we can get to him.”
Despite missing some key bats while others have fallen into ill-timed slumps, Boone still feels this lineup, despite having yet another new look, can do what it takes to pull themselves back into the series.
“I think getting hot and being healthy certainly is a big thing in the playoffs, but certainly putting together the right kind of balance of hitters and things like that certainly gives you a chance at success,” Boone said. “So I would say it's a little bit of both.
“If we're playing at our best and clicking at our best, we should be able to carry the load offensively.”
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