The last thing the Yankees need is to return to the Bronx facing elimination. Today, all the pressure is on the lefty ace Max Fried, who has been the stopper of the Yankees’ dreams all season. Despite six scoreless innings against Boston on Tuesday, though, the Yankees couldn’t get the win. Today, with a depleted bullpen, another six silent frames from Fried might not be enough for the Yankees.

Up to this point in his career, Max Fried’s postseason stats are not anything to write home about. But he did have that sensational start in the 2021 World Series in which he threw six scoreless innings to help the Atlanta Braves win the Commissioner’s Trophy.

The Yankees gave Fried an eight-year, $218 million contract because of high-pressure moments like today. The Yankees have lost seven of eight games at Rogers Center this season, so Fried needs to dominate the Blue Jays, or at least give the Yankees a chance to win, so they can feel better about a potential Game 5 and, more importantly, take an even series home to the Bronx.

“They’re a tough team, regardless of the ballpark,” said Anthony Volpe, whose .750 OPS in this series ranks second on the Yankees. “We’ve just got to do our best and show up and play, and I think we’ll be fine.”

The Yankees will face the rookie righty Trey Yesavage today, who has made just three Major League starts in his young career. The Yankees must do whatever they can to ensure Yesavage doesn’t become Toronto’s version of Cam Schlittler vs. Boston. In the best-of-five ALDS format, 40 of 54 teams (74.1%) who have won Game 1 at home have gone on to win the series.

“I don’t think any loss is a good loss, but at the end of the day, there’s been adversity in here before,” said Cody Bellinger, who delivered the Yankees’ only RBI in Game 1 with a bases-loaded walk. “All the guys in here, we all believe in each other. Now, we’ve got to come out [today], play our best game, and capitalize.”

The Yankees won’t win this series if their offense doesn’t start producing. The pressure on Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton is higher than ever after Judge sold on a low splitter with the bases loaded yesterday, and one out later, Stanton struck out. That cost the Yankees a massive scoring opportunity. Usually, the criticism surrounding Judge in the postseason is to stop trying to do too much, but he is 6-for-15 with five singles and one double. So, perhaps he should try to do more.

At the same time, if Judge and Stanton can shut out the noise, they might finally cash in. In Game 2, they must prevent the crowd from affecting their play, and they need to score as many runs as possible against the rookie Yesavage to generate as much confidence as possible for the remainder of the series.

No matter how it happens, though, the Yankees must win today. They cannot take a 2-0 deficit back to the Bronx.

Starting Pitching:

Starting Lineups:

Bench: C JC Escarra, INF Paul Goldschmidt, OF Jasson Domínguez, UT José Caballero, UT Amed Rosario

Bullpen: LHP Tim Hill, RHP David Bednar, RHP Paul Blackburn, RHP Fernando Cruz, RHP Camilo Doval, RHP Will Warren, RHP Luke Weaver, RHP Devin Williams

Bench: C Tyler Heineman, OF Nathan Lukes, OF Addison Barger, OF Anthony Santander

Bullpen: LHP Justin Bruihl, LHP Mason Fluharty, LHP Eric Lauer, LHP Brendon Little, RHP Seranthony Domínguez, RHP Braydon Fisher, RHP Jeff Hoffman, RHP Tommy Nance, RHP Yariel Rodríguez, RHP Louis Varland

Game Odds (10/5, ESPN Bet):

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The Yankees are projected to win this game by 56.0% (ESPN).

Umpires:

HP: Adam Hamari
1B: Jordan Baker
2B: Tony Randazzo
3B: Dan Bellino
LF: Roberto Ortiz
RF: Chris Segal

AccuWeather Gametime Weather: 82º, Sunny, Wind W 3 mph

Venue: Rogers Centre, 1 Blue Jays Way, Toronto, ON M5V 1J3, Canada

Coverage: FS1

Money Line: NYY -155 (ESPN Bet)

Schedule:

4:08 PM (3:08 PM CDT): 2025 American League Division Series (ALDS), Game 2: NYY (0-1) at TOR (1-0); FS1, FOXONE; SP: LHP Max Fried (19-5, 2.86 ERA) vs. RHP Trey Yesavage (1-0, 3.21 ERA)