The Yankees took, and then promptly lost, home-field advantage, meaning they have some work to do to get back in this series. First and foremost comes with evening the score tonight, with their best pitcher in the postseason going.
Masahiro Tanaka has been brilliant for the Yankees in October, and that has remained true as ever this season. Tanaka has allowed just one run in 11 innings worked so far, shutting out Houston in his Game One start back on Saturday. He’ll need to be sharp again to give the Yankees’ offense a chance to work through their recent struggles, and if he’s going as efficient as he was in his last start Aaron Boone will have to think about letting him go deep into this game.