Do you remember what the Yankees’ record was on April 1 when they woke up in Arizona, ready to start a three-game set with the Diamondbacks?
Anthony Rizzo does: it was 4-0, fresh off a season-opening sweep of the hated Astros in Houston.
"We started this year winning four games in a row. We know we're very capable of winning four in a row, so hopefully we can end this year winning four games in a row. That's what we have to do to be champions,” Rizzo said prior to Game 4 of the World Series. “The Dodgers will not lay down by any means, they’re a really good team, but if we win tonight, we get to play tomorrow.”
No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the World Series – the only time it’s ever happened is, of course, the 2004 ALCS – and of the three teams in that hole that won Game 4, none won Game 5.
A seemingly impossible task, but Rizzo, who remembers his Cubs being down 3-1 to Cleveland in 2016 with a MUCH longer championship drought hanging over them, says it’s not necessarily about going 4-0, but going 1-0 four straight times.
"Just gotta win one, right? The one you win is the hardest, and for us, I’d say Game 5 was the hardest at the time,” Rizzo said. “Just winning one sets it up. You have Gerrit Cole lurking tomorrow if we can get there, and a pretty pissed off Carlos Rodón for Game 6. Game 7 is always a crapshoot, but that’s a long way away. Luis Gil will come our firing, and we have to have his back. We know they have a really good bullpen, so hopefully we can throw up a couple early, and everyone can relax a little bit.”
But that said, you also have to be realistic about the situation, and after the Yankees had a little players’ meeting prior to Game 3 to discuss their situation, the urgency has only magnified.
"We gotta win, obviously; just gotta win today, because there's no tomorrow anymore. There really isn't,” Rizzo said. “Today could've been our last drive to the ballpark, today could be last time this team is ever together. Being down 3-0, you just want to force another game, and by forcing another game, hopefully that lifts a lot of weight off our shoulders. We’ll see, but it starts tonight.”