Historically, Boyd has had his struggles when facing the Yankees in the regular season. Dating back to 2016, Boyd is 1-3 with a 5.17 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 31 1/3 innings over six starts against New York. He allowed seven home runs and walked 16 batters while posting a WHIP of 1.436 against the Bronx Bombers.

That season, he made one start against New York and allowed three runs on four hits, including two home runs in the first inning against Juan Soto and Aaron Judge in the Guardians’ August 21 loss at Yankee Stadium.

But Judge and Soto are currently the only players on New York’s roster who have beaten Boyd, and despite some small sample sizes, Boyd has had success against some players in manager Aaron Boone’s lineup.

Gleyber Torres, who has safely reached base in each of his last nine postseason games, is 1 for 9 with three strikeouts against Boyd.

Giancarlo Stanton, who is batting .652 in six playoff games this year, went hitless in three career at-bats against Boyd. Alex Verdugo has one hit in six at-bats.

Other than Judge and Soto, no Yankees hitter has safely reached base against Boyd more than once.

But that’s not much consolation for Cleveland’s Game 3 starter.

“They’re the best team in the AL all year long, you want that challenge,” Boyd said. “We want to compete against the best, and as a pitcher you welcome that.”

Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said Boyd has thrown the ball well every time the Guardians have given it to him this year.

“He worked extremely hard to get healthy again,” said Vogt. “We talked about it and Matt was great for us. I’m looking forward to giving him the ball and seeing what he can do.”

Boyd effectively used his slider as a throwaway pitch 25.5% of the time. Judge hit a 3-1 home run inside the plate in August, so Boyd will have to put himself in a position to attack the Yankees captain with his best pitch.

“You go out there and attack. They are very good batsmen. They respect their abilities, their reputation. What they have achieved this year is truly impressive. You just go out and just compete. It’s a welcome challenge. The biggest thing is just going out there and competing against them.”

Boyd said he hasn’t yet been hit by the added pressure of putting the Guardians in a must-win situation.

“I don’t know what it’s going to feel like, but I know what I’m going to do,” Boyd said. “My game is my game. It’s a delicate proposition to say that how you feel determines what you will do. I just go out there and do what I know I’m going to do when the ball is in my hands.”

Boyd said the Guardians know their identity as a team. This is not the time to make drastic changes in response to the outcome of Games 1 and 2. If anything, Cleveland is doubling down here.

“We know what this is about,” Boyd said. “Our balance sheet speaks for itself. We did it in the regular season. We know what’s inside us. We’ll just play our game.”