The fans at Yankee Stadium were ready for the Yankees to strike back after a tough set in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, as a fan, we got something worse in my book than the heartbreak I felt in Game 1: boredom and lifelessness on Monday night. While we’ve awarded a Player of the Game for every win or loss this postseason, last night felt like such a defeat that we’d like to award the Game 3 honors.

Starter Clarke Schmidt, perhaps dealing with some World Series nerves, had little control, with only 37 of his 68 pitches being hits. His lack of control was highlighted by the cutter – which was placed on the opposite side of the zone where Jose Trevino was set up – resulting in Freddie Freeman’s two-run home run.

Schmidt didn’t make it through the third inning, giving up three runs and walking four. The offense might have been worse, with five goals and nothing on the scoreboard until the possible final of the match. The lack of fight yesterday made it feel like there was no worthy player to get recognition as the team is now 3-0.

As they have done most of the time during this playoff run, the bullpen unit once again did its part and kept this game from being a joke. Their evening started early when Mark Leiter Jr. made the final out of the third inning with the bases loaded. Nestor Cortes redeemed himself after giving up the game-winning explosion in Game 1*, putting in 1.2 innings of quality work on an economical 15 pitches.

*Yes, it would be fair to quibble that he shouldn’t have been left in that position, but the point is that it had to make this day feel better for him.

Cortes came in to replace Leiter with runners on first and second base and kept Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts from putting more runs on the board in the fourth inning. Probably the best moment of the game for the Yankees last night was when Cortes got Ohtani to bite on a cutter outside the zone on a 3-2 count.

A parade of Jake Cousins, Tim Hill, Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle and Luke Weaver kept things within striking distance for the offense – who had no interest in putting anything productive forward until two outs in the ninth inning. As with the Game 2 loss, they were the bright spot in an otherwise unfortunate performance, but we weren’t about to make Player of the Game just another “bullpen” when Cousins did allows an insurance run for LA (while it was a flawless effort in Game 2).

Giancarlo Stanton led the charge and got two of the Yankees’ five hits, including a double in the fourth, the team’s first goal of the night. However, it felt strange to give a nod to the player who was part of the game’s most deflating moment:

Certainly, the blame should be placed on third base coach Luis Rojas for the bizarre elimination. However, the image of Stanton being dead meat at home will be one of those flashbulb memories when we think back on this series.

The lineup remained quiet for the rest of the game until Alex Verdugo drove in the team’s two runs with a blast to right field as they were about to make their final outs, but avoiding a shutout was about the only thing that made it ultimately delivered for them.

This was the first World Series game in the Bronx in fifteen years and will likely stick in the minds of many Yankees fans, but not for the reasons we’d hoped. From Fat Joe’s clumsy hype-up routine through the finale, there was little for the Yankee fans in attendance to cheer for yesterday. It was a remarkably flat evening in a must-win match. It’s a challenge for even the most optimistic fans to find a positive performance in this loss. That’s why we’re taking a page from the most recent sweep and giving it a hard try to actually recognize a Player of the Game.