The New York Yankees spent Sunday away from Tropicana Field. Some players headed to the team’s player development complex in Tampa to get work in before Monday’s Game 2 against the Tampa Bay Rays. Others took the day to reset after a 1-0 loss that featured a historically quiet offensive performance.
Drew Rasmussen’s near no-hitter left the Yankees staring at a 1-0 series deficit in the best-of-five ALDS. History says the vast majority of teams that drop the first two games of a five-game series do not recover. Losing Monday would make the climb significantly steeper once the series shifts to Yankee Stadium.
When the topic of urgency came up after Saturday’s game, Jazz Chisholm Jr. did not need long to answer.
Chisholm Leaves No Room for Interpretation
A reporter asked Chisholm whether Game 2 qualifies as a must-win. His response cut straight through the question.
“Every game is a must-win,” Chisholm said.
For a team trailing in a short series against a division rival that owned the best home record in the American League, treating every remaining game as an elimination scenario is the only approach that makes sense. Chisholm framed it that way without hesitation.
The Matchup for Game 2
Monday’s Game 2 gives the Yankees their best pitching matchup of the series.
Cam Schlittler, the likely AL Cy Young winner, faces Freddy Peralta with the Yankees needing the offense to match the arm on the mound.
Final Word for the Yankees
The series is 1-0. The margin for error is gone. Every game from here carries elimination weight whether the math technically says so or not.
The Yankees heard Rasmussen’s message on Saturday.
Now they need to deliver one of their own.
Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. Makes Feelings Clear Ahead of Rays Game 2