NEW YORK – If the New York Yankees, the franchise with baseball’s richest history, want to win their 28th World Series and their first since 2009, they will have to make history.

No team has ever overcome a 3-0 deficit to win the World Series. Only one club — the Boston Red Sox against them in the American League Championship Series two decades ago — has completed the comeback in a postseason series at all. But that’s where the Yankees, whose offense has largely disappeared on the biggest stage, find themselves after falling 4-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 at Yankee Stadium on Monday. The quest to become the first team to defy the odds in the World Series begins with Game 4 on Tuesday.

“We’re trying to play a game tomorrow,” Boone said. “Okay? That’s where our focus is. Hopefully we can tell this amazing story and shock the world.”

What has been shocking so far in this World Series is New York’s offensive ineptitude. The Yankees, the American League leaders in runs scored during the regular season, have scored seven runs in the three games. They are 4-for-20 with runners in scoring position. They left 25 runners on base. They have just one fewer hit than the Dodgers, but have totaled 31 strikeouts compared to the Dodgers’ 17.

“All it takes is one,” Yankees center Aaron Judge said. “All it takes is one swing, one at-bat, one play, and everything changes. That’s the mentality you have to have.”

At the center of the battle is Judge, although far from the only source. The superstar midfielder seemed out of this planet for most of the summer. He is expected to win the American League MVP unanimously. He looked better in Game 3 than he did in Game 2, but he still went hitless with a strikeout and a walk, pushing his totals to 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts and a walk in the World Series and 6-out -12. 43 (.140) with a .580 OPS and 20 strikeouts in 12 postseason games.

“Yeah, definitely,” Judge said when asked if he felt like he let his team down. “You want to get the hits. You want to go there to do your job. But I’m not doing my job now. So I have to pick it up.”

The lack of offense combined with early holes has buried the Yankees, who haven’t led since Nestor Cortes surrendered the walk-off grand slam to Freddie Freeman in Game 1. Their deficit in Game 3 began when Clarke Schmidt scored four pitched wide to Shohei Ohtani, who he started for the Dodgers two days after dislocating his shoulder, on four pitches. Two batters later, Freeman hit a cutter that yanked Schmidt into the right-field seats for a two-run home run.

Schmidt allowed one more run in the third inning before leaving with two outs in the frame. The right-hander threw 68 pitches and recorded eight outs.

“We’re playing on the back foot a little bit,” Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo said. “We have to go for it and have some momentum on our side.”

Verdugo delivered the Yankees’ only runs with a two-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning as fans filtered out of the stadium. Giancarlo Stanton went 2-for-4 with a double. The rest of the team went 3-for-27 against Walker Buehler, who held New York to two hits over five flawless innings, and six Dodgers relievers.

The Yankees had runners reach base in each of the last four innings. The rallies ended with a questionable send-off (Stanton was thrown out at home on a double in the fourth inning) and a questionable strike three call (Gleyber Torres took a pitch above the strike zone with two runners on base in the seventh inning). The performance drew boos from the home crowd during the first World Series game at Yankee Stadium since November 4, 2009.

If there’s one positive from Monday, it’s that the Yankees saw six Dodgers relievers before their scheduled bullpen game Wednesday. They hope the reps will lead to production. History is not on their side. According to ESPN Research, each of the last nine teams to take a 3-0 lead in the World Series has completed a sweep. The last team to force a Game 5 was the Cincinnati Reds in 1970 against the Baltimore Orioles. Never has a team forced a Game 6 after trailing 3-0.

“I don’t see us tomorrow,” first baseman Anthony Rizzo said.

This World Series was as hyped as any in recent memory. The sport’s two most iconic franchises, representing each coast, add a new chapter to their World Series rivalry after a 43-year hiatus. Hall of Famers populating both rosters. Celebrities scattered throughout the crowd. This series had everything.

But what started as an instant classic in Game 1 could suddenly end with a sweep on Tuesday, largely because the Yankees’ offense has put up too many outs. They’re handing the ball to rookie Luis Gil with the season on the line, and they want to provide him with early run support to lighten his load and pull off a historic comeback.

We know the odds are against us,” Cortes said. “But this team is too resilient. I think we showed enough fighting spirit to come back. If there’s one team that can do this, it’s us.”