Overview
- The Yankees dropped Games 1 and 2 to the Tampa Bay Rays and will play Game 3 in the Bronx on Wednesday needing to win three straight to advance.
- Game 2 ended in a 5-2 loss at Tropicana Field after the Yankees committed three errors in the first inning that writers called a sign of poor preparation.
- Aaron Boone told reporters the team must 'get ourselves up off the mat' after the loss while Aaron Judge remains sidelined with a calf strain and out of the lineup.
- New York will send Max Fried to the mound for Game 3 and Carlos Rodón for Game 4 with ace Cam Schlittler held for a potential Game 5, a sequence the club says is its path to survival.
- The Yankees have overcome 0-2 playoff holes six times in franchise history but Division Series data shows nearly 90% of teams down 0-2 in a best-of-five are eliminated, raising the stakes for lineup and tactical changes being urged by columnists.