NEW YORK — It’s been 15 years, almost to the day, since Shane Victorino threw a slow ground ball to second baseman Robinson Cano and, before Cano could even complete the throw to first, a sea of ​​fine gentlemen stripes started pouring out Yankee Stadiumthe first base dugout to celebrate the team’s 27th anniversary^th championship.

That 7-3 Philadelphia Phillies victory in Game 6 of the 2009 World Series was the final Fall Classic game played in the Bronx, a drought that will be broken Monday night.

However this time, it is not an expected coronation, but rather a cry for help which will mark Game 3 of this World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

‘We have to win,’ first baseman says Anthony Rizzo. “That’s the main thing.”

That’s not what the Yankees wanted, who fell 2-0 into this World Series, with two disheartening losses in Los Angeles providing little consolation in the fact that the Yankees found themselves face to face with the Dodgers. – who needed a Grand Slam by Freddie Freeman to win the first game – only to fail twice.

Enter home-field advantage.

“I think we need our fans more than ever right now, for sure,” Rizzo says. “They support us, they pump us up, they put pressure on the other teams. The Bronx is a special place. When this stadium vibrates, we feel it.

“We need every ounce of their energy on Monday.”

Perhaps the partisan roar will breathe some life into slugger Aaron Judge, whose six strikeouts in nine at-bats have left a gaping hole in the middle of the Yankees lineup and, in essence, the Yankees are playing an MVP against the Dodgers, who have three on their current roster.

“The fans will bring energy. When they bring the energy, they’re going to move the team forward,” said slugger Juan Soto, whose Game 2 home run briefly tied the game, before a power surge from Freeman and Teoscar Hernández drove to a 4-2 Dodgers victory.

“It’s not easy to play in front of 40,000 fans against you. That’s why every team wants to get first place, to be able to start the series at home.

Games 3, 4 and 5 in the Bronx are about the last good one the Yankees have. They got off to a great start in the first game Gerrit Colewho pitched the seventh inning, only for an unearned run and Freeman’s exploits doomed them.

They will now turn to Schmidt, who had a great start this year before a shoulder injury cost him three months short of a September return. Since then, he has been healthy and efficient, recording 14 outs and allowing two runs in each of his postseason starts.

A World Series assignment at home is no small feat.

“You can use it to give yourself a big boost.” You definitely feel that when you’re there. It definitely adds adrenaline,” says Schmidt.

“I view every game, as we all do, as a must-win. Down 2-0, regardless of the record, we treat every game like we have to go out there and win it. Nothing changes.”

Well, something has to change for the Yankees.

Maybe not so much the process as the result. They have 14 hits to the Dodgers’ 15, were tied or within two runs in the ninth inning, struck out Dodgers closer Blake Treinen in Game 2 and won’t become familiar with opposing relievers until as the series unfolds.

Perhaps a gust of wind at their backs – in the form of some 47,000 ironclad supporters – will make the difference.

“This series could easily be 2-0, us,” said slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who hit a two-run homer in Game 1 and an RBI single in the ninth inning of Game 2, in a rally that failed. “That’s what happens when you have a very good club on the other side. It could go anywhere.

“They will bring the noise. They understand what’s at stake.”

The USA TODAY app quickly immerses you in the heart of the news. Download for award-winning cover art, crossword puzzles, audio narrations, e-journal and much more..

This article was originally published on USA TODAY: Yankees ask fans for help in World Series Game 3 against Dodgers