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New York Yankees fans might be wondering how likely it is that their team can climb out of the 3-0 hole they find themselves sitting in against the Los Angeles Dodgers in this World Series.

They’re not going to like the answer.

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Looking at it as wide-eyed as possible, the task is daunting. The Yankees have to win Game 4 tonight, then Game 5 on Wednesday. Then they have to fly back across the country to Los Angeles and beat the Dodgers two more times in Dodger Stadium. There can be no slip-ups, no bad outings on the mound, and no more offensive cold streaks. There is no room for error — or for errors.

When you dive in and look at history, it’s even worse.

If the Yankees actually manage to do all of the above, play perfect baseball for four games and rally to beat the Dodgers in seven, they will become the first team to ever do that in a World Series. That’s right, no team has come back from down 3-0 in the World Series.

So now you know what you’re dealing with.

But what about the MLB playoffs in general? It probably happens every so often, right?

Unfortunately, Yankees fans, it really doesn’t. In fact, in MLB history, it’s only happened once, and if you’re old enough, you might still have nightmares about it.

It’s happened once? Who did it?

The Boston Red Sox pulled it off in the 2004 ALCS, and they did it against — you guessed it — the New York Yankees.

The Yankees were a juggernaut that season, too, winning 101 games on the way to the AL East crown. They had a frightening lineup that featured Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui, Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada. Sheffield, Rodriguez and Matsui combined to hit 103 home runs and drive in 335 runs that season.

And they flexed their muscles early in that series. When they won Game 3 in a 19-8 walkover, it looked to be all but over. That’s when the unthinkable happened, and you’re not going to believe who the catalyst was.

Who sparked the comeback for the Red Sox?

There were a lot of players who had an impact on Boston’s comeback, especially David Ortiz, who had walk-off hits in Game 4 (12th-inning home run) and Game 5 (14th-inning single) then set the stage in Game 7 with a first-inning home run.

But the man who started it all was a backup outfielder named Dave Roberts — the same Dave Roberts who now manages the Dodgers.

The Yankees were protecting a 4-3 lead in the ninth, and they had star closer Mariano Rivera on the mound. Roberts came on as a pinch-runner for Kevin Millar, who led off with a walk. Rivera, with a quick, smooth delivery, was difficult to steal bases against, but Roberts pulled it off, sliding in ahead of the tag to get himself into scoring position. He then dashed home on a single by Bill Mueller, tying the score and setting the stage for Ortiz’s homer in the 12th — and a comeback for the ages.

So knowing all this, there is no way the Yankees win this series, right?

Obviously, history is stacked against the Yankees. And if anyone knows the importance of closing the door when you have the chance, it would be the Dodgers’ manager.

But don’t talk to Roberts about history, or about 2004. He won’t have it.

“Don’t talk about that,” Roberts said after Game 3 when a reporter mentioned the Red Sox’s comeback in 2004. “Wrong guy. Way too early.”

“From the other side — I don’t want to divulge any secrets, but from the other side, I just think that we have got to stay focused, stay urgent,” Roberts said. “I think offensively, to be quite honest, we left a lot of runs out there tonight. Still found a way to win a ballgame.

“There’s just got to be urgency. I just don’t want to let these guys up for air.”

Will Roberts bring up 2004 as a motivation tool for his Dodgers?

“No, I won’t. I won’t,” Roberts said. “I think that they’re very familiar with 20 years ago and what can happen. I mean, anything’s possible. Our guys are very heady, very hungry for a championship, a parade. So nothing is going to get in the way of that, nothing.”

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NEW YORK — The stadium started emptying out in the seventh inning. Beating traffic became more valuable than staying through the end of a hopeless playoff game that cost the equivalent of a mortgage to attend. The product the Yankees put on the field for their first home World Series game in 15 years was so underwhelming that being anywhere else was better than sticking around until the end. 

The Yankees looked like a team that still hadn’t recovered from Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam in Game 1. So, when the same guy hit a two-run shot in the first inning of Game 3, the cut was deep. 

The atmosphere in the Bronx seemed to mirror the mood in the home dugout: sapped of faith and energy. 

“It’s all on the line for a championship,” a flashing message on the center-field jumbotron reminded the weary crowd. Apparently, the players didn’t see it.

They say it’s not over until the fat lady sings. In the Yankees’ case, Fat Joe already sang. 

“​​We just gotta keep relying on each other and keep playing the game we’ve played all year long,” Yankees captain Aaron Judge said. “Keep playing the game that got us into this position.”

[RELATED: Full coverage of the World Series] 

There was no sense of urgency for the Yankees on Monday as they lost 4-2 to the Dodgers, which dropped them to 0-3 in the World Series, perhaps because what we’ve seen so far is the best they’ve got. The Yankees reached the World Series by knocking out the Royals and the Guardians, two teams that were defeated by New York even when it wasn’t doing everything right. Against those two clubs, the Yankees got away with their inattention to detail. Against the superteam Dodgers — who have outplayed the Yankees via a deeper lineup, superior rotation, sharper defense and better bullpen — the Yankees’ flaws are being exposed.

One of their pitfalls all year was their response when things got ugly. When the Yankees went 5-16 over a 21-game period this summer, they were making mistakes on the basepaths, committing errors on defense, and playing nonchalantly on top of it. Spectacular individual performances from Judge and Juan Soto were nice distractions. But we’ve seen the Yankees need longer than a seven-game stretch to climb out of their slump before collectively returning to timely hitting and pitching. 

So, when the Yankees tell us this is part of who they’ve been all year, we should believe them. The version of the Yankees they need to be now is the one that shows emotion, gets fired up, and cleans up its act from the first pitch to the last. The Yankees have to look alive to keep this World Series going. They can try waking up by being honest about who they’ve been for most of the year: a team that acts as the supporting cast to the starring roles of a few top players. The formula leads to wins only when the stars come through for the team. 

Interested to know who the Dodgers are? Just watch how they played in the first three games of the World Series. 

Freddie Freeman has now hit a home run in each of the first three games in this Fall Classic. Shohei Ohtani, playing Game 3 with a partially dislocated left shoulder, found a way to get on base despite being in obvious pain. Walker Buehler carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning and recorded his second career World Series start featuring at least five innings, no runs allowed and two or fewer hits. 

Los Angeles’ starters have a 1.62 ERA against New York, compared to a 6.00 ERA from a Yankees’ rotation that was supposed to be superior. The Dodgers have scored twice as many runs as the Yankees (14-7). 

“There’s just gotta be urgency,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I just don’t want to let these guys up for air.”

It shows. The mentality that Roberts has plugged into his clubhouse has the Dodgers one win away from sweeping the World Series.

“If that team wins three in a row,” Yankees outfielder Alex Verdugo said of the Dodgers, “then why can’t we win three in a row?”

Sure, technically, there’s nothing stopping the Yankees from winning three straight and forcing a Game 7. But who that has watched this flawed team play all year actually believes they can? Even if the Yankees internally believe they could still stun the world and pull it off, that would require a sense of urgency and fight from the Bronx Bombers; two crucial championship qualities that they failed to summon in Game 3, which the World Series’ 122-year history assures was a must-win situation. 

The Yankees have grown less competitive in each game of this series. Their at-bats on Monday were mostly passive until, down to their final out and trailing by four runs, Verdugo hit a two-run home run off right-hander Michael Kopech. Three of the Yankees’ four runs in Games 2 and 3 — and four of their nine hits — didn’t arrive until the ninth inning. That’s not a good thing. It only gives manager Aaron Boone permission to spout tired lines about his team persevering until the last out despite their deficits proving to be insurmountable. 

If that’s New York’s version of a fight, the Dodgers can win the next round — and finish this bout — even after taking the first punches. 

“Credit to them that they’ve been able to hold us down and control us,” Boone said. “Then, when we have had some opportunities, we haven’t cashed in. Ultimately, that’s what this comes down to.” 

At least the Mets knocked these Dodgers down. Known as the Yankees’ stepbrothers, the Mets didn’t give an inch in their National League Championship Series with L.A. — they were just overmatched when it came to roster talent. The Mets’ hitting and pitching paled in comparison to the Yankees’ in the regular season, and yet they forced six games out of the Dodgers and a return trip to Los Angeles. 

The Yankees look like they’re ready to go home. 

The only MLB team to ever climb out of a 3-0 hole in a best-of-seven series is the 2004 Red Sox, who won the final four games of the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees en route to winning the World Series. Not exactly a memory that will make the Yankees feel warm and fuzzy, right? But a couple of years back, the Yankees tried drawing inspiration from their division rivals when they watched Red Sox highlights from that 2004 ALCS in an attempt to get out of their own 3-0 hole against the Astros in the 2022 ALCS. It didn’t work, and not just because that was a comical idea in the first place. Houston wound up sweeping them out of the playoffs that year.

Two years later, the Yankees are on the brink of being swept again, except this time it will be much more excruciating if they don’t leave everything they’ve got on the field. They’re already the first World Series team in 12 years to drop the first three games. What will be remembered, though, is if they become the first pennant winner since the 2012 Tigers to be swept (by the Giants). It’s a distinction the Dodgers look primed — itching, even — to deliver Tuesday.

“We know the odds are stacked against us,” Yankees southpaw Nestor Cortes said. “But this team is too resilient. I think we showed enough fight in us to come back. If there’s a team out there that can do it, that’ll be us.”

We’ll believe it when we see it. 

Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees are locking horns in the World Series, with Game 4 on Tuesday (8:08 p.m. ET on FOX).

This is the 12th time these iconic franchises are battling for a championship, but the first time since 1981.

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The Dodgers won the first three games of this series and are now just one victory away from clinching the franchise’s eighth championship.

Here is the lowdown on Game 4, including how to watch, potential lineups and more.

How can I watch the World Series?

Every game will be broadcast on FOX, and each contest is slated to start at 8:08 p.m. ET. Here is the schedule:

Who is favored?

The Yankees are currently favored to win Game 4, while the Dodgers are favored (-2000) to win the series.

Who will start Game 4?

The Yankees will start Luis Gil. The Dodgers have not named a starter, but are expected to make this a bullpen game. Anthony Banda, Michael Kopech or Ryan Brasier could open, though all of them pitched in Game 3. Brent Honeywell, Landon Knack and Ben Casparius could also see some action. Dodgers closer Blake Treinen did not pitch in Game 3 and should be ready if needed.

[Related: A look back at past Dodgers-Yankees World Series matchups]

Who will be in the lineup for Game 4?

Neither team has announced a starting lineup yet, but we can make some guesses based on past lineups. We will update this later when they are announced.

Yankees

1. Gleyber Torres, 2B
2. Juan Soto, RF
3. Aaron Judge, CF
4. Giancarlo Stanton, DH
5. Jazz Chisholm, 3B
6. Anthony Volpe, SS
7. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
8. Jose Trevino, C
9. Alex Verdugo, LF

Dodgers

1. Shohei Ohtani, DH
2. Mookie Betts, RF
3. Freddie Freeman, 1B
4. Teoscar Hernández, LF
5. Max Muncy, 3B
6. Will Smith, C
7. Gavin Lux, 2B
8. Kiké Hernández, CF
9. Tommy Edman, SS

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NEW YORK — Walker Buehler wishes he could feel this way all the time. 

He wishes the velocity and characteristics on his fastball, which guided his gem Monday night in the Bronx and moved the Dodgers to within one win of a World Series sweep, could have emerged earlier when he was searching for answers in a rocky transition back to the mound after his second Tommy John surgery. 

He wishes the mechanics that finally came together, which helped him stretch his streak of postseason scoreless innings to 12 after his latest Fall Classic masterpiece, could have been there all year when his command was in disarray. 

He wishes that extra boost of epinephrine, the one that comes from pitching and thriving in October, could be channeled the same way during the six months prior. 

But he can’t help it. 

The postseason, and the World Series in particular, brings out a different version of him. 

“I think, as kind of brutal as it is to say, it takes that adrenaline and stuff to kind of really get me going mentally,” Buehler said after quieting a crowd of 49,368 fans at Yankee Stadium in a 4-2 win. “I wish I would have felt that all year. I could tell you I’m excited to pitch every single game I’ve ever gone out there, but there is something different in the playoffs.”

[RELATED: Full coverage of the World Series] 

After a forgettable start to Game 3 of the National League Division Series marred by defensive miscues, he tossed three scoreless innings in San Diego to end that outing. Then he tallied four scoreless innings in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, riding his secondary pitches to more swings and misses than he had in any game since the 2021 season. 

And on Monday, he kept the Yankees off the board for five innings. He has now allowed just one run in 18 innings over three career World Series starts. 

“I think it’s just in his DNA,” Gavin Lux said. “Some guys have it like that.”

This time, it was Buehler’s fastball — the one that helped him rise to fame, the one that used to overpower opponents, the one that had suddenly lost its bite after his latest elbow procedure — guiding his success. 

Hitters had annihilated his four-seamer as he tried to figure out how to pitch with the new version of his surgically-repaired arm. But he relied on it against a Yankees lineup that whiffed six times against the pitch and watched another nine go by for called strikes. 

They did not record a hit against it. 

“Kind of like it used to be,” Buehler said, “or a little bit closer.”

The Yankees did not have a hit at all against him until a Giancarlo Stanton double in the fourth inning. Stanton was thrown out at the plate by Teoscar Hernández trying to score from second on an Anthony Volpe single to left field, extinguishing the Yankees’ only real threat against Buehler, who was removed only because the lineup turned over a third time through. 

Hernández wasn’t on the Dodgers when Buehler first developed his penchant for clutch performances, but he watched enough baseball to know what to expect from the starter when the calendar flipped to October. 

“This is how it is, every time,” Hernández said. “He’s locked in, and just does that. He’s got three games in the World Series, all three games, he wins. It’s Walker.”

In what might have been his final showing before free agency, in a season diminished but not defined by inconsistency, Buehler again saved his best for the most important time of year. 

He is the only Dodgers starter ever to throw five shutout innings while allowing two hits or fewer in a World Series game. And he has now done it twice. 

“At least long term, for me, to get through the playoffs in the way that I have, it’s really encouraging for me personally because I know it’s in there, and I’ve just got to unlock it a little bit,” Buehler said. “But that feeling of, ‘there’s an organization relying on me today to win a playoff game,’ I think it’s kind of the weight that I like feeling and kind of gets me in a certain place mentally that it’s kind of hard to replicate.”

Buehler’s 2024 debut didn’t come until May. Knowing there might be some limitations this year coming off his second elbow reconstruction, he did not want to start and stop his season. He expressed a desire to be available in October, when the team would need him most. 

He’s there now, performing to his capabilities once again, even if it took a winding path to reach this familiar finish. 

“Second TJ takes guys a lot longer to figure out who they are,” Max Muncy said. “For him, the timing wasn’t there for a while. But his last couple games going into the postseason, he looked more like himself. Some guys live for the moment. He’s definitely one of those guys.”

There were often times during Buehler’s rehab when he didn’t want to look at the radar gun, knowing he’d be underwhelmed. His four-seamer averaged 95 mph this year, not the 96-97 he was throwing four years ago, but not far off from where he was at in 2021 and 2022. Still, it wasn’t missing bats. Opponents hit .342 against the pitch. They had nearly as many homers (eight) as strikeouts (nine) against it.  

In a contract year, it made for an uncertain future. But Buehler was more concerned with getting right than looking ahead. 

“Obviously, it’s my free-agent year and whatnot,” Buehler said this spring, “but at the end of the day, I just want to play and be good again.”

In the midst of the mediocrity, a hip issue this summer stunted his progress further. He had a 5.84 ERA before missing a month of the season. He spent part of that time at a private facility in Florida trying to find a way to get right again. His first few starts back were just as inauspicious. 

But while the results weren’t there, Buehler began to find some consistency in his mechanics during an August bullpen session in St. Louis. He had a 4.44 ERA in September — hardly the Buehler of old, but enough to demonstrate to the Dodgers that he deserved a postseason role in their depleted rotation. 

The way his regular season ended, with Buehler holding off the team that was chasing the Dodgers in the standings, there was a building block. The Dodgers won the division on Sept. 26 when he limited the high-powered Padres to one run in five innings. 

The October stage, his baseball haven, beckoned. 

“This,” Buehler said after his regular-season finale, “is what I live for.” 

It’s where he thrived in 2018, when he began to develop his playoff reputation. Then, as a 23-year-old rookie, he was the pitcher the Dodgers called upon in a Game 163 tiebreaker to decide the division. He held the Rockies to one hit in 6.2 innings in a 5-2 win. Later that postseason, he bounced back from a rough start to October by allowing one run in Game 7 of the NLCS to send the Dodgers to the World Series, where he fired seven scoreless innings in his lone start.

Two years later, in the Dodgers’ 2020 championship run, Buehler kept the team’s season alive with six scoreless innings in a Game 6 win against Freddie Freeman’s Braves. He followed that up with 10 strikeouts in six innings of one-run ball against Tyler Glasnow’s Rays. 

“He just always shoved,” Glasnow recalled. “The moment was never too big.”

Monday was just the latest example of his October prowess. After posting a 5.38 ERA in the 2024 regular season, Buehler has a 3.86 ERA this postseason.

When he takes the mound this time of year, you can throw his regular-season stats away. 

“You just see that different look in his eyes,” Lux said. “He doesn’t care, man. This guy’s the most confident human being in the world.”

Buehler’s work this October, at the end of his most grueling season as a big leaguer, has been especially notable. 

And while it might not fully erase his regular-season struggles in the minds of potential suitors, it demonstrates what still remains from the 30-year-old pitcher who was, just a few years ago, the Dodgers’ ace the last time they won a World Series.  

Now, this version of Buehler epitomizes a Dodgers pitching staff that has risen far above expectations. 

If the Yankees had one main advantage over the Dodgers entering the series, it was, seemingly, the depth of their rotation. But in Game 2, Yoshinobu Yamamoto outpitched Carlos Rodón. And in Game 3, the Dodgers knocked Clarke Schmidt out before Buehler had even given up a hit.

“When it’s going good, there’s not much else you’d rather do on this earth,” Buehler said. 

Buehler has now thrown the second-most playoff starts of any player in his franchise’s illustrious history, behind only Clayton Kershaw. He has a 3.07 ERA in those 18 outings.

If Monday was his last as a Dodger, it was one hell of a parting gift. 

“There’s no one I’d want more in a big game,” Muncy said, “than Walker Buehler.”

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.

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