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Yankees' Rizzo preaches urgency: Game 3 'absolutely is a must-win'

Maddie Meyer / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Anthony Rizzo knows the New York Yankees must take Game 3 to have any shot of winning the World Series.

"It absolutely is a must-win," he said, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. "You don't go home if you don't win Monday, but the odds are against you."

The Yankees are staring down a 2-0 series deficit after dropping Game 2 in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

Starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto dazzled, holding New York's lineup to just one run across 6 1/3 innings. The Dodgers backed his strong outing with home runs from Tommy Edman, Teoscar Hernández, and Freddie Freeman.

But trailing in a World Series isn't unfamiliar for Rizzo. He helped lead the Chicago Cubs back from a 3-1 series deficit in 2016 to end the club's 107-year title drought.

"It's not over until it's over," Rizzo said. "This is a seven-game series. We've gone on a four-game winning streak plenty of times. We've gone 4-1 plenty of times. When it comes down to it, it's just winning one ballgame."

New York will send Clarke Schmidt to the mound looking to win Monday's contest when the series shifts to the Bronx.

Game 3's first pitch is scheduled for 8:08 p.m. ET.

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