Just a few days ago, the New York Yankees were riding high, having blasted the arch-rival Boston Red Sox in a Wild Card sweep. Now, their backs are against the wall, down 0-1 to the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS after almost getting no-hit by Drew Rasmussen on Saturday night.
The good news is that New York will be sending the soon-to-be AL Cy Young winner, Cam Schlittler, to the mound. The not-so-good news is that this Rays team has had an answer for the Yankees all year long, and New York's lineup will need to do a lot better against a resurgent Freddy Peralta than they did against Rasmussen in Game 1.
A win would send the series back to the Bronx tied at a game apiece, with the Yankees rolling out two more aces in Max Fried and Carlos Rodon in Games 3 and 4. A loss would give Tampa a nigh-insurmountable 2-0 lead, and ratchet up the pressure a ton on a team facing World Series or bust expectations.
Will the Yankees fight back? Or will the Rays continue to play the sort of high-energy, fundamental baseball that carried them to the AL's best record in the regular season? Fans can follow along with all of the action, player stats and game stats with us below.
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Box score: Yankees vs. Rays live player stats and team stats
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