After all, the main reason for choosing Lin Guanglai as the lead-off hitter was because he was often walked by the opponent, and Aaron Judge's form was slow to recover;

Now that Judge's condition is gradually warming up and the Dodgers don't specifically target Lin Guanglai like the Indians and Astros do, it makes more sense to return him to the clean-up spot to better unleash his power.

Of course, the effectiveness of such an arrangement relies on the players on the field being able to strategically overcome the indomitable ace, Yu Darvish, otherwise everything is just empty talk.

As the pitcher closest to the Cy Young Award honor in Asia so far, Yu Darvish is known for his colorful arsenal of "seven-colored breaking balls":

According to Statcast's statistical data, in addition to a fastball that can reach up to 99 mph with rising tail motion, Darvish has mastered several pitch types including a slider, sweeping slider, forkball, curveball, cutter, and forkball, each capable of handling Major League Level games.

Undoubtedly, once such a pitcher is on the mound, he becomes a nightmare for all batters; unless you cheat like the eliminated Astros did to predict pitches, it's hard to know what Darvish will throw next.

During the pre-game meeting, the Yankees' pitching coach and data team analyzed Darvish's pitching habits for the entire team, suggesting a focus on guarding against his slider and cutter - the former is recognized as the "Best in the American League" by head coaches in official voting, while the latter is a newly developed signature pitch that has gradually become his decisive pitch variety.

If such a great pitcher has any weakness, it might be his control issues:

Under the MLB evaluation standards, Darvish's control has always been considered the last gap between him and Cy Young-level pitchers - scouts believe his "ability to pitch into the strike zone" is above average; however, precise control, that is, throwing to a specific location, is average.

Even Darvish himself has admitted that he "can pitch into the strike zone, but precise control is not a strength," and such a weakness often leads to him missing opportunities to resolve batters due to control errors after achieving two strikes.

This particular aspect is what the Yankees' coaching team emphasized in the pre-game meeting, hoping their players can specifically target it in the pitcher-batter duel.

Facing Brett Gardner, an exceptionally skilled batter with substantial threats on base, Darvish still started off with his four-seam fastball, sending a 93 mph fastball towards the lower middle of the strike zone; Gardner remained unmoved in the batter's box, watching the baseball enter the zone for a called strike.

The second pitch, an inside breaking ball, had slightly poorer control out of Darvish's hand, nearly hitting Gardner, but ultimately brushing past him and bouncing to the back of home plate. The count moved to 1 ball and 1 strike.

The third pitch, Darvish, along with catcher Austin Barnes, attempted to replicate the first pitch's strategy, again sending a 93 mph fastball towards Gardner's outside corner.

But this time, the weakness in pitch control details was exposed: if Lin Guanglai was on the mound, he would have precisely controlled the ball to the high or low outside corner, leaving the batter to lament while gaining a strike;

However, Darvish's control couldn't be as meticulous. Although the baseball was sent into the corner of the strike zone, the location was more reachable for the batter in the outside middle - Gardner, having been prepared, would not miss such an opportunity, using the tip of the bat to hit the ball, sending the fastball towards central field for a ground hit.

Cheers erupted in Yankee Stadium instantly, as the leadoff batter managed to get on base, and with Aaron Judge and Lin Guanglai set to appear next, home fans had reason to believe they could gain the scoring advantage in the first inning.

It must be said, Gardner is truly a nemesis for Darvish in a certain sense: counting on the recent hit, his career batting average against Darvish is nearly 60%, including 4 home runs.

Following Gardner's appearance was still Aaron Judge as the second batter. After hitting rock bottom in the series against the Indians, Judge gradually found his form in subsequent games; while not as fierce as his regular season form, he at least won't be the focus of the opposing pitcher's attack.

Just like this matchup, although Judge couldn't get a hit against Darvish, his final swing interfered with catcher Austin Barnes behind the plate, preventing him from smoothly throwing towards second base, indirectly helping teammates move up on base.

Now, with one out, a runner in scoring position on second base, Lin Guanglai stepped into the left batter's box beside home plate, while the chants of "MVP" echoed once again across Yankee Stadium.

Since the postseason began, such cheers have almost always erupted whenever Lin Guanglai appeared, and as the game progressed and Lin Guanglai continued to deliver phenomenal performances on the field, this kind of cheering has gradually become a new feature of Bronx.