There's an old adage that an actor's nightmare is being onstage and forgetting all of your lines. So the sports fan's nightmare must be your team getting to the championship and not doing a damned thing. And that's where we're at.
The first two games at least featured an attempt to parry by the Yankees, but tonight, barring Alex Vertigo's late theatrics, had none. The offense felt lifeless. The pitching didn't seem to have learned from the first two games. Judge is still cold. Soto's now falling off. Stanton did some things to get runners in scoring position but they weren't capitalized upon. And numerous Yankees were given the opportunity to do something great and just couldn't. Over and over again. I tell you, it was exhausting to watch. Hope dying repeatedly, and in different ways. It's different from past playoff losses because at least then we actually fought back.
This is similar to the 2012 ALCS against the Tigers. Where the O's series wore us out so much that we had absolutely nothing left, and the lineup was basically dead. That's where we're at. Even if people actually pitch well, we're too worn out to actually offer anything up.
This isn't to say what the Dodgers are doing isn't impressive. Walker Buehler's finally put it together months after being activated. The lineup is versatile and can keep getting it done. Freddie Freeman's waltzing towards a W.S. MVP. The bullpen might be the reason why they're getting this done, ultimately. I just really thought if the Yankees could properly prepare for Cleveland, we'd adopt a strategy to undercut LA. But that involves the lineup being able to do anything. And we're just not there right now, no matter what rituals the brass has in mind for the next 24 hours.
It'd be nice if the Yankees could somehow win Game 4 and stop this horrific slide. But I feel like if I get my hopes up for that it'll make a 4-game sweep even less palatable. So I'm just gonna go in with the expectation that this could be the end of the road, and hope that we actually have something to offer tomorrow. Gil on the mound, likely against a bullpen barrage. Who knows, right?
If it's another effort like tonight's, though, I dunno if I'll be able to watch much of it.
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