“We need our fans more than ever”

NEW YORK — It’s been 15 years, almost a day, since Shane Victorino slowly rolled a ground ball to second baseman Robinson Cano, and before Cano could complete the throw to first, a sea of ​​pinstriped gentlemen began pouring out of Yankee Stadium. . first base dedicated to the team’s 27th anniversary^th championship.

A 7-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 of the 2009 World Series marked the final game of the fall classic played in the Bronx, a drought that will end Monday night.

This time, however, it is not the expected coronation, but rather a cry for help that will mark Game 3 of this World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“We have to win,” first baseman Anthony Rizzo said. “That’s the point.”

This is not what the Yankees wanted, coming home with a 2-0 deficit in this World Series, with a pair of dispiriting losses in Los Angeles that only brought so much solace in the fact that the Yankees were going toe-to-toe with “Dodgers”. — who needed a Freddie Freeman grand slam to win Game 1 — only to lose twice.

Enter home field advantage.

“I think we need our fans now more than ever,” Rizzo says. “They support us, pump us up, put pressure on other teams. The Bronx is a special place. When this stadium rocks, we feel it.

“We need every ounce of their energy on Monday.”

Perhaps the party roar will breathe some life into slugger Aaron Judge, whose six strikeouts in nine appearances have left a gaping hole in the middle of the Yankees’ lineup and will essentially force the Yankees to go down one better player against the Dodgers, who have three on their current roster.

“The fans will bring the energy. When they bring the energy, they get the team going,” said slugger Juan Soto, whose Game 2 home run briefly tied the game before a burst of energy from Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez led to a 4-2 Dodgers victory.

“It’s not easy to play in front of 40,000 fans who are against you. That’s why every team wants to get first place and start the series at home.”

Games 3, 4 and 5 in the Bronx are pretty much the last ticket the Yankees have. They got a great start in Game 1 from Gerrit Cole, who left in the seventh inning on an unearned run, and Freeman’s heroics doomed them.

They will now turn to Schmidt, who got off to a great start this year before a shoulder sprain cost him three months before returning in September. He’s been healthy and effective since then, recording 14 strikeouts and allowing two runs in each playoff start.

World Series homework is no small thing.

“You can use this to give yourself a big boost. You definitely feel it when you’re there. It definitely adds to the adrenaline,” Schmidt says.

“I treat every game, as we all do, as a must-win. When it’s 2-0, no matter what the record is, we treat every game like we have to go out there and win it. Nothing changes.”

Well, something has to change for the Yankees.

Perhaps not so much the process as the result. They have 14 hits to the Dodgers’ 15, were tied or within two runs in the ninth inning, knocked out Dodgers closer Blake Treinen in Game 2 and will only get to know opposing relievers as the series progresses.

Perhaps a gust of wind at their back – in the form of some 47,000 desperate guerrillas – will change the situation.

“This series could have easily ended 2-0 in our favor,” said slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who hit a two-run homer in Game 1 and an RBI single in the ninth inning of Game 2 on a play that fell short. “That’s what happens when there’s a really good putter on the other side. Everything can go either way.

“They will bring noise. They understand what’s at stake.”

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Yankees ask fans for help in Game 3 of World Series against Dodgers.