Austin Wells went from starting Game 3 of the World Series on the bench to helping save the Yankees season — at least for a day — in Game 4.
Wells was reinserted in the No. 8 spot on Tuesday night and made an immediate impact with a pair of extra-base hits, including a leadoff homer in the sixth inning of an 11-4 win over the Dodgers that got the Yankees to within 3-1 in the series.
“The situation we were in [down 3-0], I think that we just kind of needed to say, ‘Screw it’ and go after it and have fun because some guys may never come back to the World Series again,’’ Wells said. “So we were enjoying the game and I think that allowed us to play a lot looser.”
After Anthony Volpe walked with one out in the bottom of the second against Dodgers opener Ben Casparius, Wells followed with a booming double to center.
Volpe misread the play and then stumbled, which prevented the speedy shortstop from scoring on the long blast and robbed Wells of an RBI.
The misplay didn’t end up costing the Yankees, as Alex Verdugo followed with a grounder to first that scored Volpe from third to cut the Yankees’ deficit to one run.
Then, in the bottom of the sixth, Wells led off the inning with the Yankees up by just a run and crushed a pitch into the second deck in right.
The homer gave the Yankees an insurance run that no doubt aided the bullpen.
Oddly, it was the loss — and not being in the lineup — on Monday that eased Wells’ mind.
“[Monday] night, I feel like all the pressure just kind of went away — for me at least, personally,’’ Wells said. “We were down 3-0 and it was like I feel like the pressure is on them to win the last game.’’
It was the kind of response Aaron Boone expected on the day he chose to go with Jose Trevino in Monday’s lineup over Wells, who had been stuck in a brutal slump since the middle of September.
“I really do still have confidence, even moving forward in the series, that he’s going to have the right at-bat, a big at-bat in a big spot, because that’s who he is,’’ Boone said Monday. “I feel like his DNA is [that] he’s a hitter. But he’s gone through it a little bit.”
That’s putting it mildly.
Since getting hits in each of his first two postseason games, Wells entered Tuesday just 2-for-36 with 17 strikeouts over his previous 10 games.
