NEW YORK — For the Yankees to close out the ALCS, they have to win beyond Thunderdome.
That's because the Yankees — 1-4 in the playoffs on the road — have to become road warriors to finish their mad dash through the American League.
It certainly feels like momentum, if such a thing exists, is on the side of the guys in pinstripes, but Astros manager A.J. Hinch dismissed the mystical/mythical powers of momentum before Game 5.
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"I believe momentum is a dangerous thing to rely on all the time, because it can change in a pitch or two," Hinch said. " … So be careful what you wish for when you rely too much on momentum. ... (Momentum) is all fun fodder. It doesn't help you win."
No, momentum isn't some force beyond comprehension, but neither is confidence that a ballclub fosters, and that's something that New York has built during the postseason.
The Yankees beat the 102-win Indians in Cleveland's building to secure a spot in the ALCS, and now are a win away over the 101-win Astros to advance to a World Series that not many saw coming. To do it, they have to win one more game on the road.
While Hinch doesn't believe in momentum, he might have faith in trends.
"I think getting home will be good for us," Hinch told reporters postgame. "We have an off day tomorrow, and then get to play in front of our home crowd. Every home team has won this series. If that trend continues, we'll be in pretty good shape."
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Though the Yankees did one of the most difficult things in baseball to do — win an elimination game on the road to win the ALDS — the mission ahead should be a slight cause for concern. They finished the regular season 40-41 away from Yankee Stadium. Not great.
Still, it's a team that has managed to surprise everyone to this point. We already know how resilient they are. We know they show grit, fight and heart and all those other baseball cliches that work their way into bad hardball movies. Winning on the road, however, is no easy task, and there are good reasons why.
"It's tough. You see teams coming here, and it's tough to win here," Yankees reliever Chad Green told SN. "The atmosphere. It's a little easier to do your job when you got 40,000 people screaming for you instead of against you. Home team gets the last at bat. Just the little things like that."
To reach the World Series, the Yankees will have to make the Astros lose their fourth straight game, something that hasn't happened often in 2017. The Astros have just two streaks longer than three losses this season: Aug. 8-12, when they lost five in a row, and Sept. 8-10, when they lost four games, including getting swept in a double header by Oakland.
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Yankees third baseman Todd Frazier wasted no time in explaining the key to upending Houston on the road.
"Early and often, early and often. We gotta get on them early and often as hitters, as pitchers, which (Houston) has been doing the whole time. But if we get a run here and a run there, the focus goes back on them, and hopefully they try to do too much. We haven't done that."
"It starts with starting pitching," Green continued. "If they're able to take the crowd out of the game, it relaxes the hitters a little bit, makes it easier on the bullpen guys. But it's tough."
For Aaron Judge, they only thing different in Game 6 will be the venue.
"Just play your game. Nothing changes," Judge told SN. "It's still 90 feet to first. It's still 60 feet, 6 inches. Just keep your head down, keep playing your game, keep having fun."
