The 2024 World Series kicked off on Friday. In three games over four days, what was once seen as a matchup for the ages has turned into a lopsided affair for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The New York Yankees have dug themselves a hole that has historically been impossible to dig out. If they want to avoid being swept — let alone have a reasonable chance of winning the World Series — then this is what needs to happen.

Maybe the National League is just that much better. Perhaps the Yankees’ route to the Fall Classic via two AL Central teams in the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Guardians was softer than the Dodgers’ via the San Diego Padres and New York Mets.

That’s all history. Now is now.

The hole the Yankees find themselves in is monumental: of the 24 times a team found itself in an 0-3 hole in the World Series, 21 times it resulted in a sweep. Three times it has come to a Game 5. No team has made it to a Game 6, let alone a Game 7.

To avoid being swept, the Yankees must do the following.

Game 4 is a Bullpen game for the Dodgers

The starting pitching would be the weak spot for the Dodgers, but they have strung together strong performances from Jack Flaherty in Game 1 (5.1 IP, 3.38 ERA, 5 H, 2 ER, 6 SO, 1 BB), Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2 (6.1 IP, 1.42 ERA, 1 H, 1 ER, 4 SO, 2 BB) and Walker Buehler on Monday night (5.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 H, 0 ER, 5 SO, 2 BB) have the Yankees against the wall .

On Tuesday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts will have a bullpen game (again). On paper, this should be the easiest game for the Yankees to get their cold bats going. It’s not as simple as it could have been (letting Buehler dive deeper in Game 3 saved Roberts from having to rely on his best bullpen arms in high-leverage situations), but at this stage the Yankees need something: something – turn around.

Aaron Judge needs to stop pushing

The toughest look at the Yankees lineup was on Aaron Judge. The man who will surely win the AL MVP was a shadow of his former self at the plate, going just 1-12 over three games with 1 walk and an abysmal 7 strikeouts. His chase percentage has skyrocketed over the course of the postseason, from a career-high 17.7% during the regular season to 21.3% against the Royals, 33.3% against the Guardians and 35.3% over the three games of the World Series against the Dodgers.

The pressure from the national media, the New York press and fans must be unrelenting for Judge at this point. He has to fight the urge to press. The increased chase rate turns into strikeouts that the Yankees can ill afford. Judge is drafted for power, but his ability to scare opposing pitchers allowed for a league-high 133 walks during the regular season, setting the table for others behind him to push him across the plate. How many walks does Judge walk during the World Series? Exactly 1. That’s a sign that instead of going around him, the Dodgers are going right after him.

The judge needs to focus on Game 4. That’s all. Stop pressing. At best, get into an attacking rhythm. At worst, allow pitchers to draw walks. A .154 OBP is problem No. 1 for Judge and the Yankees.

When does Aaron Boone get emotions?

A fiery manager is a delicate act in the postseason. Getting ejected is something to avoid until it doesn’t happen again and Yankees manager Aaron Boone had to pull the trigger in Game 3.

Home plate umpire Mark Carlson wasn’t the best in Game 3 with his balls and strikes. With two outs and runners on top and 2 in the bottom of the seventh, Carlson Gleyber called Torres on a pitch outside the strike zone.

With the game moving into later innings, Boone had to get excited and get out of the dugout. At that stage, an ejection late in the game does less damage than a Yankees lineup that has all the energy of a 15-watt light bulb. Boone has to provide a spark. Clearly, Game 4 is now or never. Managers have to manage.

The Yankees need to channel the Red Sox of 2004

The Yankees won’t get Dave Roberts to give them a pep talk, but in a case of incredible irony, the Bronx Bombers should channel the 2004 Boston Red Sox in the ALCS. It’s not just that the Red Sox dug themselves out of an 0-3 hole to come back and win four straight games to advance to the World Series. How they did it.

David Ortiz, a huge factor in that historic 2004 comeback, said what anyone watching in the Yankees dugout could see in Game 3 last night: body language shows a team is deflated and defeated. That 2004 “Cowboy Up” Red Sox team acted like they somehow had the advantage even though they were down 0-3.

Someone – everyone – should channel Kevin Millar. Because if the Yankees adopt the mentality that if they win the Bullpen game of Game 4, they get Gerritt Cole as the starter for Game 5, which gives them their ace and a chance to reach Game 6 back in LA.

Except judge, where is everyone, minus Stanton?

The Yankees have scored just seven runs in the three games of the World Series. Of these, 3 come from Giancarlo Stanton. Two of those came on a 9th inning, two out home run by Alex Verdugo in Game 3, making the Dodgers’ 4-2 win seem closer than it actually was.

Collectively, the Yankees are an abysmal .186 as a team compared to .248 in the regular season. What’s worse, they’re down by over 200 points compared to the regular season in OPS (World Series is .579 while the regular season was .761).

Yes, the Dodgers have seen Freddie Freeman do tremendous things, but if the Yankees want to avoid the sweep, others besides Stanton will have to step up, and that goes beyond Judge. Yes, Judge needs to get to base, but in order to live another day, it’s up to others to lift the burden.

Jazz Chisolm is 3-13 at the plate. Torres is 2-11. Verdugo is 2-10. Volpe is 1-12. Soto, a major free agent this offseason, is hitting .300 but has one home run. At least he didn’t strike out and walked three.

The Yankees are built on getting runners on base and charging their way to wins, ranking fourth during the regular season. Yes, the Dodgers are ranked No. 1 in that area and are ruthless from top to bottom, but this is about one game. This game. Game 4. That’s it for now.

There will be some soul searching this offseason for the Yankees. Only the most overly optimistic fan sees the Yankees winning the World Series at this stage. What we’re talking about now is avoiding the total embarrassment of being swiped. That happens and would anyone be surprised if Aaron Boone and/or Brian Cashman were fired?

Today is the day for the Yankees. There are no others. It’s Game 4 Or Bust for more than just the right to live another day.