Jazz Chisholm’s unwavering confidence may have provided the Royals with bulletin-board material for the 48 hours leading into Game 3.
Chisholm said the Royals “got lucky” in their 4-2 Game 2 win in the ALDS on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium and unquestionably still believes the Yankees will advance to the ALCS.
“Still feels the same like we’re gonna win it,” Chisholm said after going 1-for-4 with a ninth-inning solo homer. “I don’t think anybody feels any different. We’re going to go out there and do our thing still. We still don’t feel like any team is better than us. We had a lot of opportunities tonight, they just got lucky.”
There’s the sweet spot between being confident in your team without putting down the opponent but the Yankees’ midseason acquisition doesn’t seem worried about ruffling any feathers.
There is some merit to Chisholm’s claims since the Yankees applied pressure most of the night and couldn’t break through, going 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
However, the Royals actually had more at-bats with men in scoring position and went 3-for-11. They scored all four of their runs in the fourth inning to chase an underwhelming Carlos Rodon.
Chisholm did his part offensively with his ninth-inning blast slicing the deficit to 4-2 and giving Yankee Stadium a jolt, but he also played a role in the Royals scoring an extra run in the fourth by being out of position on a relay throw and also made a throwing error.
“I thought about it right away,” Chisholm said of not being in place to prevent a runner from advancing. “I don’t know if you guys saw me, I said, ‘My bad’ to (Alex) Verdugo right away. Cause that’s supposed to stop the inning right there. It (wouldn’t) have been three (runs) instead of two.”
The Royals surely see Chisholm’s quotes and he and his teammates will have to back them up when the series shifts to Kansas City beginning Wednesday.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Yankees in the postseason:
The Royals, who ranked 13th in runs scored in the regular season, already has shown its spunk by averaging five runs per game across the first two contests.
And the Royals have reason to be confident knowing they have Seth Lugo, who dominated the Yankees in September in The Bronx, going in Game 3.
Chisholm can only hope the Royals don’t embody the old saying that sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.
“I feel like this team is the best to do it,” Chisholm said of the Yankees’ ability to rebound. “One day we get our butts kicked and the next day we’re kicking butt. We turn around everything. We never look at anything as a downer. Come back and learn from it the next day.”
