It's time for the Yankees' stars to shine in Game 5 of the World Series

NEW YORK — Anthony Rizzo had addressed the team before Game 3 and acknowledged the reality of the World Series before Game 4 — the Yankees' season was on the line.

As a team, “this might be the last time we're ever together,” Rizzo said Tuesday afternoon at Yankee Stadium as he played the Los Angeles Dodgers' three games without a lead.

“You just want to force another game.”

Hours later, Anthony Volpe went out and experienced an unforgettable World Series game, marked by a grand slam that lifted the Yankees to an 11-4 victory and kept their long-term title dreams alive.

On Tuesday night, Rizzo said, “It was nice to see that breakout” in the five-run eighth inning, led by Volpe's double and daring baserunning.

After the Yanks wiped out the Dodgers' bullpen game, Aaron Boone's relievers finished Luis Gil's four scoreless innings.

But for Game 5 in the Bronx, “we need to come out swinging,” Rizzo said.

That means Aaron Judge and Co. provide cover for top hitter Gerrit Cole and however many relievers it takes to get 27 outs and have a chance to return to Los Angeles.

Instead of tackling the unprecedented World Series challenge of an 0-3 comeback, “we're trying to go 1-0 every day,” Juan Soto said. “That’s the mindset.”

In Game 5, that might require more than 88 pitches from Cole, who was waived after six innings (plus one batter) in Game 1, only to watch the Yankees lose on Freddie Freeman's grand slam in the 10th^Th.

And they could use more of the MVP version of Judge, whose sharp single in the eighth inning after Soto's double and Gleyber Torres' three-run home run produced his first World Series RBI.

“Continue to provide run support,” was Judge’s plan on a night where Volpe and the bottoms — including a home run from Austin Wells and some tough at-bats from Alex Verdugo — were crucial.

This moment of “exhale” for the Yankees

“(Volpe) gives us that jolt of energy,” Verdugo said of the shortstop’s third-inning slam against Daniel Hudson, LA’s second of four pitchers.

“This is the big hit we were looking for,” Verdugo said of this moment of “exhalation” in which “everyone can play freely and carefree again.”

Volpe gave the Americans their first lead since the 10th^Th inning of Game 1, and the Yanks' winning margin was by far their largest in the postseason.

And they had survived another early Freeman home run, a two-run blast in the first inning – his fourth in four games.

Once again the power in the stadium was out. But perhaps the Freeman home run provided “a little bit of extra motivation at that moment,” Weaver said.

“We are fighting for our lives.”

Weaver was primed for a seven-out save, but the Yanks' eighth-inning lead meant he was ready for at least one inning in Game 5.

“It’s a lot of stress, but it’s also a big opportunity,” Weaver said of facing the Dodgers’ relentless lineup. “It’s whatever you want.”

Tim Hill, Mark Leiter Jr. and Clay Holmes got the outs ahead of Weaver, and now it's Cole's turn to shorten that bridge to 27 in Game 5^Th out of.

Come to a game 6

Due to his comeback in June due to nerve irritation in his elbow, Cole was not considered to start Game 4 on short rest or come out of the bullpen for a few batters in a bad spot.

He got a regular break against Jack Flaherty in this Game 1 rematch, but Cole's seemingly early hook in that game sparked criticism of Boone.

“Trust me, he was done,” Boone said, so one wonders what the line will look like in Game 5.

But the Yankees need their ace and Judge, their MVP, to have a chance at the parade in the Canyon of Heroes.

“I feel like we’re getting back into the rhythm,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. said.

For the Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani hasn't looked the same since injuring his left shoulder late in Game 2. he was 1 for 4 with a single in Game 4, and he is 1 for 11 since a big double in the eighth inning in Game 1.

“We've asked him many times and it doesn't hinder (his swing),” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I just think it’s the chase” that’s fading in his swing, like when Leiter Jr. aired him on a splitter in the seventh inning.

It was enough to get the Yankees to Game 5 and keep a crazy dream alive.

If this story were to be written, “I would be willing to give you some material,” Weaver said.

This moment of “exhale” for the Yankees

Come to a game 6

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