While their backs aren’t against the wall, the Yankees currently are standing on some shaky ground.
After taking the first game of the ALCS in Houston, 7-0, New York has lost two-straight to trail in a series for the first time this postseason.
After an unexpected day off on Wednesday night, thanks to the rain, Game 4 of the ALCS (8:08 p.m. ET, FS1) will feature a rematch of Game 1 starters on the hill as Houston’s Zack Greinke faces off against Masahiro Tanaka.
Greinke was the only Astros starter out of their big three that the Yankees were able to get to through the first three games of the ALCS.
Led by Gleyber Torres’ five-RBI night, the Yankees were able to snag three runs of Greinke in six innings before blowing it open against the Astros bullpen.
Since then, the Yankees have gotten just two runs off Justin Verlander and none against Gerrit Cole.
The middle of the Yankees lineup has been a black hole recently.
With Giancarlo Stanton’s status still up in the air for the entire series as he nurses a strained right quad, New York has gotten little from a majority of their lineup.
Gio Urshela and Brett Gardner are batting under .185 in the ALCS while Edwin Encarnacion, Didi Gregorius, and Gary Sanchez are coming in at under .100.
It’s led many to call for the benchings of Encarnacion and Sanchez. Granted, the health of Stanton to replace Encarnacion at DH is delaying any lineup tweak while backup catcher Austin Romine hasn’t appeared in a game since Sept. 28.
Here is the Yankees’ Game 4 starting lineup
1) DJ LeMahieu
2) Aaron Judge
3) Aaron Hicks
4) Gleyber Torres
5) Edwin Encarnacion
6) Brett Gardner
7) Gary Sanchez
8) Gio Urshela
9) Didi Gregorius
It’s the same cast of characters for Boone compared to Game 3.
Stanton worked out before Game 4, but it was deemed that he still is not ready to play yet. So Encarnacion remains as the DH for now in the No. 5 spot.
Sanchez continues to stay near the bottom of the lineup while Gregorius rounds things out at the bottom.
