Yanks banking on Bronx atmosphere ahead of must-win Game 3

NEW YORK -- The home clubhouse at Yankee Stadium was quiet Monday, save for a few players stopping by to undergo treatment or do some light throwing.

That calm will evaporate by Tuesday evening, when the Yankees will fight to keep their season alive in Game 3 of the American League Division Series, facing elimination after dropping the first two contests of the series to the Blue Jays.

They’re banking on home-field advantage to spark a turnaround, one week after recovering from a Game 1 loss in the Wild Card Series against the Red Sox, when they joined the 2020 A’s and 2020 Padres as the only clubs to win a Wild Card round after dropping the opener.

“I think just being at home gives us a little bit of confidence,” Cody Bellinger said. “They got us in those two games there in Toronto. But to be back at Yankee Stadium in front of the home crowd, it's definitely exciting. That was my first postseason experience in the Wild Card, and it was just a really fun environment. So looking forward to it [on Tuesday].”

New York went 50-31 in the Bronx this season, the third-best record in the AL behind Toronto (54–27) and Seattle (51–30).

“We’re ready to go,” said Max Fried. “We had a rough showing [in Toronto], and we’d rather be up 2-0 than down 2-0. But we have a lot of faith in this club. If there’s anyone that can win three in a row, we did that down the stretch. We believe in each other.”

If the Yankees can extend the series, they’ll earn a decisive Game 5 on Friday back at Rogers Centre -- a building where they’ve won just once in nine tries this year. At this stage, that’s a problem they’d gladly sign up for.

“We’ll approach it like we have really all season,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Even more specifically, the last six, eight weeks, where we feel like we've been playing with a lot on the line every single day. … Keep it small. Keep it simple and know that you go out and win a ballgame tomorrow. That's as far as you go.”

Change at the top?

Boone kept the same lineup for both games in Toronto, but he said he’s considering “one or two” tweaks for Game 3. One could involve leadoff hitter Trent Grisham, who is 3-for-20 with a double, two walks, and eight strikeouts this postseason, including 1-for-8 in the ALDS.

“I trust Trent Grisham and his at-bat quality,” Boone said. “It's just a few games, and we've had some tough matchups in there where he's faced a couple of tough lefties. I trust the at-bat, like he's going to not get overwhelmed by a situation.

“He's going to throw a good at-bat on you. He's going to have the ability every time he walks up there to get on base and the threat of leaving the ballpark.”

Boone said it’s also possible they roll out the same lineup from Game 2.

“That's something I'll kind of work through here the rest of the day,” Boone said.

A whole new world

José Caballero’s first day with the Yankees was a whirlwind.

Acquired from the Rays during a July 31 game at Yankee Stadium, the utilityman hugged his former teammates and packed his bags, crossing through a tunnel to his new home side.

When the Yankees finished off their victory over Tampa Bay, Caballero admitted to having conflicted feelings: was he supposed to celebrate?

“We won, I guess,” he said that day.

After years spent playing against the Yankees (and, in the case of Gerrit Cole, sometimes antagonizing them), Caballero says he recognized almost immediately that the clubhouse atmosphere felt different.

“The winning mentality. The mentality that everyone carries, that every game matters,” Caballero said. “That's something that's really special. Also, just learning a lot from this group of guys that are really together in the clubhouse.

“Everyone's trying to help everyone, and it doesn't matter who you are, they're still trying to help, they're still trying to get the best out of you.”

Did you know?

The Yankees have twice rallied from an 0-2 hole in a best-of-five series (2001 vs. A’s and 2017 vs. Cleveland). They’ve been swept in a best-of five series just once: by the Royals in the 1980 ALCS.