A bittersweet World Series homecoming for the Yankees – in pictures

The mood on the train ride up to Yankee Stadium could best be characterized as cautious optimism.

Chatter on the uptown 4 train a few hours before the game had it that every fan would give center-fielder Aaron Judge a standing ovation to help him rediscover the MVP form he had shown in the regular season.

The setting sun illuminates Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

Game 3 of the World Series brought the Fall Classic back to the Bronx for the first time in 15 years. The Dodgers had won the first two games, which took place in LA

A Yankees fan bends the ear of a sports broadcaster before the game.

Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has fans across the animal kingdom.

A man holds up a sign asking for a ticket.

Fans flooded a nearby merch shop to load up on apparel.

The mood was setting in before the first pitch was thrown.

Perhaps the Yankees could benefit from some divine intervention.

Fans wait in line to enter Yankee Stadium. For those who couldn’t, or wouldn’t, pay the astronomical price of admission, a row of bars just down the road provided ample viewing opportunities with crowds spilling out on to the street.

Dodgers fans rave before the game.

With New York having suffered a two-game rout at the hands of the Dodgers in Los Angeles, Yankees fans were rattled but determined to breathe life into their embattled team on Monday night.

Outside the stadium, rival fans hooted and hollered at each other as they made their way to the gates.

Some fans were able to peacefully coexist.

Yankees fans at a bar watch with bated breath as Judge squares up at the plate for his first at bat.

In the postseason, Judge had gone from a monumental .322 batting average to a paltry .140. Which version of Judge would show up for Game 3?

Whereas the fans may have had a shred of hope before the game started, that was soon dashed when Yankees starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt gave up a lead off walk to Shohei Ohtani and then a two-run home run to Freddie Freeman, and that was all at the top of the first. The mood cratered even further when Judge’s first at bat yielded nothing.

Whereas the bars were packed, some improvised a viewing solution a few blocks from the stadium. The Dodgers went on to win the game 4-2, leaving the Yankees just one game from a series defeat.