Baseball: A Two-Way Player

Chapter 712 38: Champion’s Obsession (Part 3)

Before the game began, James took advantage of his status to go to the sidelines, interacting and taking photos with the Yankees players; as one of the current main stars of the Yankees and a Nike partner, Lin Guanglai naturally introduced himself to James.

Although Lin himself doesn't pay much attention to basketball, James' name is often mentioned by others: from any angle, this highly controversial star is certainly a prominent figure in North American sports.

If LeBron James came to Progress Field today hoping to see his beloved New York Yankees secure a victory, he is likely to be disappointed:

Frankner's decision to deploy Trevor Bauer as the surprise weapon paid off brilliantly. Bauer started 6.1 innings, striking out 8 Yankees batters, completely shutting down their lineup;

In contrast, Yankees' starting pitcher Luis Severino, who is almost Cy Young-level, only pitched 3.1 innings, delivering 2 strikeouts, 4 walks, and allowing 3 runs before leaving the mound.

The final result of the game was 4-0, with the Indians securing a home victory in the opening match - Bauer and the Indians' bullpen completely locked down the Yankees' lineup, allowing only 3 hits in total, 2 of which were made by Lin Guanglai alone; the team's heavily anticipated main batter Aaron Judge struck out in all 4 at-bats, showing none of the dominance he exhibited during the regular season and the Wild Card game against the Twins.

In the second game held the next day, the Indians finally sent out their ace Corey Kluber, hoping to rely on the dominance of this super pitcher, in form like he has divine assistance this season, to secure the match point for the team.

But today, starter Gerrit Cole stood firm: facing the aggressive Indians lineup, he delivered a solid performance over 6 innings, allowing only 2 runs. The Yankees batters also found their lost form, knocking Kluber out in less than 3 innings - when Cole completed his starting task and left the mound, the scoreboard showed 8-2, with the Yankees in the lead away from home.

The only blemish might be that the team's lineup core Aaron Judge still couldn't get a hit, as the Indians repeatedly employed the intentional walk tactic against him.

Just as Girardi began contemplating how to utilize the advantages of playing at home to end this series, Chad Green, who'd been stable all season as a relief pitcher, suddenly faltered:

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Green entered the game and continuously made control errors, soon allowing the bases to be loaded by the Indians; substitute pitcher David Robertson couldn't withstand the pressure of loaded bases, hit by Francisco Lindor's grand slam, the score gap was instantly narrowed down to 2 runs.

The Yankees' bullpen, completely thrown off, couldn't maintain their advantage, allowing the Indians to tie the score in the last moments of the ninth inning's regular time; after that, both sides fought intensely up to the 13th inning, where Indians catcher Yan Gomes ended the marathon battle with a walk-off hit that sent his teammate from third base home.

"New York Yankees, lost again…" John Sterling at the commentators' booth looked sternly at the dispirited Yankees players on the field, criticizing their performance:

"Look at how the Indians' players play when they're trailing, Encarnacion even got injured retiring for a base dive attempt, after experiencing last year's failure, these Indians players have become almost obsessed with their championship pursuit…"

"Then look at our players? These young guys are good, but among them, how many have come to the Yankees for money and fame, and how many truly possess a championship heart? At least from the series performance so far, very few, very few…"

"Joe Girardi should seriously ponder - the Yankees have been pushed to the brink, every step henceforth is a fight to the death. As a commentator who loves this team dearly, I believe in my team, and believe that these players are capable of staging a comeback from being down two games, but the premise is that they should genuinely understand the significance contained in this pinstripe uniform."

"From the day you choose to join the Yankees, your goal should be the championship - sparing nothing for victory, asking for nothing but victory, this is the motto that belongs to the Yankees!"