Aaron Boone Sticking to Lineup Change That Revived Yankees' World Series Offense
After fending off elimination on Tuesday, the New York Yankees are running things back on Wednesday.
Manager Aaron Boone has officially submitted the same lineup card for Game 5 of the World Series that he did for Game 4. Despite calls for major chances when the Yankees went down 3-0 to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the only tweak Boone made was moving third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. up from No. 5 to No. 4, bumping designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton down one spot.
Boone is sticking to his guns with that swap, as New York scored 11 runs in Game 4 after scoring a total of seven between Games 1 and 3.
Chisholm went 1-for-4 with a single, a walk and run, while Stanton went 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout. It was actually the bottom third of the Yankees' lineup that did most of the damage in Game 4 – Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells and Alex Verdugo combined to go 5-for-10 with two walks, two home runs and seven RBI – but the long rallies can certainly be attributed to a change of pace in the middle of the order.
Stanton is batting .275 with a 1.037 OPS in the playoffs, but .235 with a .749 OPS in the World Series. Chisholm is batting .176 with a .491 OPS so far this postseason, but has been slightly better against the Dodgers with his .235 batting average and .513 OPS.
Here is the full lineup the Yankees will be trotting out for a must-win Game 5:
1. Gleyber Torres, 2B
2. Juan Soto, RF
3. Aaron Judge, CF
4. Jazz Chisholm Jr., 3B
5. Giancarlo Stanton, DH
6. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
7. Anthony Volpe, SS
8. Austin Wells, C
9. Alex Verdugo, LF
SP: Gerrit Cole, RHP
First pitch from Yankee Stadium is scheduled for 8:08 p.m. ET. The Yankees can force Game 6 with another win, while the Dodgers can clinch their title if they emerge victorious on Wednesday.
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