Yankees only have one hope to pull off Red Sox-like miracle

Who’s going to play nan portion of Kevin Millar connected Tuesday afternoon? Jazz Chisholm Jr.? Chisholm has Millar’s chattiness. Maybe it’ll beryllium Gerrit Cole. Cole is simply a large and ardent leader. He’s been known to return a slug aliases 2 for a teammate aliases a manager.

Can nan Yankees activate Nick Swisher?

Swisher would decidedly do it.

“Don’t fto america triumph tonight. This is simply a large game. They’ve sewage to triumph because if we win, we’ve sewage Cole coming backmost successful Game 5 and past Rodon will transportation Game 6 and past you tin return that fraud worldly and put it to bed. Don’t fto nan Yanks … Win. This. Game.”

Pounding nan mitt for emphasis.

Twenty years later, it’ll return 2 things for nan Yankees to beryllium capable to equilibrium nan scales of shot justice. Twenty years aft becoming nan first — and still only — shot squad to person a 3-0 lead successful a best-of-seven reversed connected them, this would beryllium a bully clip to transmission those detested Red Sox, find thing wrong themselves Tuesday night.

That’s erstwhile they will study to activity down 3-0 successful this, nan 120th World Series. Their different ancient rivals, nan Dodgers, merrily put them successful that spread Monday by pouncing early thanks to Freddie Freeman and closing precocious acknowledgment to a stout pitching capacity from Walker Buhler and an ensemble formed of relievers backing him up on nan measurement to a 4-2 whitewash.

Now, they request to do nan worst point imaginable, adjacent their eyes, wound down hard, swallow harder, and … emulate nan Red Sox.

And nan truth is, it doesn’t person to beryllium arsenic painful, aliases arsenic profoundly distasteful, arsenic saying what Millar said. More important, they person to enactment arsenic nan Red Sox acted, which is two-fold. First, grant nan promise of each head who ever saw a squad autumn into an 0-3 spread and effort to person 4 one-game winning streaks and not 1 four-game winning streak.

The different is much obvious.

Through 3 games of nan 2004 ALCS, David Ortiz had made a (seed) disease of himself, getting six hits, but 5 of them were singles and nary of them near nan yard. Half of them came successful Game 3, a 19-8 massacre that was garbage clip almost from nan start. But successful Games 4 done 7, this was Ortiz: .316/.409/.790. That’s a 1.199 OPS. That included location runs successful Games 4, 5 and 7, and 9 of nan astir basal RBIs ever collected.

Follow The Post’s sum of nan Yankees successful nan postseason:

• Vaccaro: Yankees whitethorn request to spell belief to prevention Aaron Judge this World Series
• Sherman: Yankees stay defiant, moreover arsenic nan Dodgers expose each their flaws
• Heyman: Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto flipped Yankees’ top World Series edge
• Juan Soto gives Yankees rallying outcry aft latest violative one-man show

Those are nan benignant of four-game numbers Aaron Judge specializes in. He’s gotten connected those kinds of rolls dozens of times, rolls that defy mentation and return activity away. Some of those times, he comes consecutive retired of a batting slump to do it, too.

The Yankees request that.

It’s nary longer capable to opportunity nan Yankees could usage that. It’s nary longer feasible to build an statement that nan Yankees tin someway past successful this Series by carrying Judge alternatively of nan different measurement around. It’s nary longer capable to laud Judge for taking “good at-bats,” for illustration nan 1 he took successful nan eighth inning, erstwhile he drew a six-pitch locomotion disconnected LA righty Ryan Brasier, battling backmost from a 1-and-2 count.

No. Not bully enough.

The Yankees request more. They request Judge to get basking — and red-hot, if possible. Maybe it’s conscionable a motion that nan Yankees are so a flawed roster that they’re truthful limited connected 1 player, moreover arsenic their different superstar, Juan Soto, has done conscionable fine.

You cognize what?

You tin person that speech erstwhile nan season’s over. You tin wring your hands astir it successful a week — aliases a fewer days, if things don’t move astir quickly. Aaron Boone pondered a fewer massages to his lineup during nan people of a 5 ½-hour formation home, from takeoff correct successful done having to fasten his spot belt, make judge he raised his tray array and guarantee his spot backmost was successful nan upright and locked position.

He did 1 of those: subbing Jose Trevino successful for struggling rookie catcher Austin Wells, 4-for-41 pinch 18 strikeouts successful nan postseason. He thought of doing a fewer others, though he was reluctant to stock them. One that would’ve been wholly defensible: swapping Judge and Soto successful nan order. If thing else, conscionable to get a caller look.

“It’s nan World Series, no,” he yet decided. “That’s our feline [Judge], and there’s unit successful nan Series, immoderate spot you’re hitting. He’s our feline and assured he’ll get it going.”

Yankees fans treated him warmly, arsenic expected, and will do truthful Tuesday night, for sure, moreover if his 0-for-3 lowered his World Series mean to .083 (with nary homers) and his postseason mean to .140. He’s moving retired of play now, and nan Yankees are moving retired of time. Twenty years ago, successful a akin predicament, David Ortiz backed up Kevin Millar’s vow pinch his bat.

The Yankees don’t request nan vow. Just Judge’s bat. STAT, arsenic they utilized to opportunity connected “ER.”