SI:AM | Yankees and Guardians Face Deficits Few Have Ever Overcome

An 0–2 deficit has proved nearly impossible to dig out of. Three teams will try to buck that trend this week.

Cam Schlittler wasn’t as sharp as he usually is, and the Yankees’ defense didn't do him any favors. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I think I’m still a little jet-lagged from my reporting trip last week, so I want to thank the Yankees for playing poorly enough that I could go to bed in the seventh inning. 

In today’s SI:AM: 
🤦‍♂️ Yankees stumble into 0–2 hole
💪 Falcons crush Saints
🏈 The NFL’s real officiating problem

A nearly insurmountable hole

The current round of the MLB playoffs could be over quickly. 

With yesterday’s White Sox win over the Guardians and Rays victory against the Yankees, three of the four Division Series stand at 2–0. The Brewers have a chance to finish off the Padres in San Diego tonight, while the Dodgers-Braves series is the only one tied at a game apiece. 

Chicago won after seizing the lead in a dramatic sixth-inning rally. First, White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas knocked Cleveland starter Gavin Williams out of the game with a leadoff single. Williams was replaced by Erik Sabrowski, who issued a walk and threw a wild pitch that gave Chicago runners on second and third with one out. Braden Montgomery then put the White Sox ahead 3–2 with a two-run double, at which point Hunter Gaddis relieved Sabrowski. Chase Meidroth drove in another run off of Gaddis to make it 4–2. Chicago hung on to win 4–3. 

The win gives the White Sox a chance to do something they haven’t done in 120 years: clinch a playoff series at home. The last time they did so was when they won the 1906 World Series against the Cubs in six games. Since then, the White Sox have only won five postseason series: the 1917 World Series, three en route to their 2005 championship and last week’s wild-card series against the Astros. None of them were clinched at home. Now, after three straight 100-loss seasons—including a historic 121-loss nightmare in 2024—the White Sox can finally give the home fans something to cheer about. 

The Yankees, meanwhile, are in a much different situation. They’re going back to the Bronx, desperately seeking to save their season after playing two horrendous games in St. Petersburg. 

After a dismal offensive performance in Game 1 on Saturday, the Yankees came out in Game 2 and decided to play their worst game of the year on defense. They committed four errors, three of them in the first inning, as the Rays won 5–2. 

“It’s a tough loss. We beat ourselves today, in a lot of ways,” said second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., who committed one of those errors. “These are some of the best defenders I’ve ever played with. For me, it hurts us a little bit more than you think.”

The defensive miscues exacerbated what was already a difficult night for Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler. After ranking fifth in the majors this season with 11.1 strikeouts per nine, Schlittler only recorded two K’s in 4 ⅓ innings last night. 

There haven’t been many teams to fall behind 0–2 in a best-of-five series and come back to win. Of the 92 MLB teams that have done so, only 10 have completed the comeback. If Yankees fans are looking for a little irrational confidence, they can cling to the fact that the last team to complete the turnaround was the 2017 Yankees. 

The best of Sports Illustrated

Michael Penix Jr. had the Falcons’ offense humming on Monday night. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

• Karl Rasmussen: The Yankees’ Defense Historically Collapsed in Game 2. The Rays Pounced.
• Gilberto Manzano: In Saints Rout, Falcons’ Offense Shows How Lethal It Can Be with Michael Penix Jr.
• Conor Orr: This Week’s Referee Suspensions Are Hiding the NFL’s Real Officiating Problem
• Conor Orr: Which NFL Coaches Are on the Hot Seat and Why More Jobs May Open Than You Expect (Again)
• Karl Rasmussen: The Guardians’ Glaring Weakness Is Sinking Them in Embarrassing Fashion
• Pat Forde: The Seven Things the Best College Football Teams Do Better Than Everyone
• Pat Forde: Six Games That Will Tell Us What College Football Contenders Are Real

The top five…

Bijan Robinson had two touchdowns in the Falcons’ big win over the Saints. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

… things I saw last night: 
5. A beautiful toe-tap touchdown by Saints receiver Devaughn Vele. Unfortunately for the Saints, it came with a minute left in the game and cut the Falcons’ lead to a mere three touchdowns. 
4. Braden Montgomery’s go-ahead double for the White Sox. 
3. Brian Robinson Jr.’s tough running for his third touchdown of the night. 
2. Bijan Robinson’s 59-yard touchdown run on the third play of the game. 
1. Spencer Jones’s bizarre flyout on a ball that hit the catwalk in the Trop and hung in the air for an eternity. 

📺 What we’re watching today …

MLB 

Dodgers at Braves, 6 p.m. ET, FS1
Game 3 will feature 2025 World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto facing Braves ace Chris Sale, who has a 1.96 ERA over his final 24 regular-season starts.

Brewers at Padres, 9:30 p.m. ET, FS1
The Padres will turn to starter Nick Pivetta in hopes of extending their season after losing the first two games in Milwaukee in heartbreaking fashion.