CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Guardians found some heavy lumber resting on the bench and constructed an improbable comeback to work their way back into the American League Championship Series.
David Fry delivered a walk-off two-run homer in the 10th inning after Jhonkensy Noel hit a game-tying two-run blast with two outs in the ninth as the Guardians pulled out an improbable 7-5 victory over the visiting New York Yankees on Thursday in Game 3 of the ALCS.
Noel’s game-tying shot came as a pinch hitter in the ninth. Fry originally entered the game as a pinch hitter in the seventh.
“I’m just trying to have the slowest heartbeat I can,” Fry said. “It’s tough in those situations to stay within yourself and just try to have a normal approach, but luckily tonight was a good one.”
The result cut the Guardians’ deficit in the best-of-seven series to 2-1. Game 4 is set for Friday at Cleveland.
Bo Naylor led off the 10th inning with a single for Cleveland and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt from Brayan Rocchio. Steven Kwan grounded out before Fry hit his dramatic, game-winning home run into the seats in left-center on a 1-2 sinker from Clay Holmes (2-1).
“Sucks losing like that, obviously, but kind of a classic game, and we’ll be ready to roll tomorrow,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Noel’s homer in the ninth against New York right-hander Luke Weaver came after the Yankees appeared to administer a decisive blow. Aaron Judge hit a game-tying two-run home run with two outs in the eighth inning and Giancarlo Stanton followed with a go-ahead homer for a 4-3 lead against Cleveland’s All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase.
“The plan was to look at pitches close to my body and I was able to get one and execute it,” Noel said. “We’re a team that (doesn’t) quit. We play 27 outs, so that’s kind of what happened today.”
Cleveland right-hander Pedro Avila (1-0) pitched a scoreless 10th inning to earn the win.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our guys,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “That’s exactly who we are. … We get punched in the teeth pretty hard there in the eighth, and our guys stepped up huge for the guy (Clase) that carried us all year long. That was really fun to see.”
New York first appeared headed for defeat before Judge and Stanton hit home runs for a 4-3 lead. The Yankees added a run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly from Gleyber Torres.
Weaver was one out away from the save in the ninth inning after getting Josh Naylor to ground into a double play. Lane Thomas fought back from an 0-2 count to double off the top of the wall in left-center, and Noel hit a towering home run to left for a 5-5 tie.
Kyle Manzardo hit a two-run home run for the Guardians, while left-hander Matthew Boyd gave up one run over five innings. Clase slipped to 2-for-3 on save chances in the postseason after going 47-for-50 in the regular season.
The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the second inning after Anthony Volpe walked and Alex Verdugo doubled against Boyd to put runners on second and third. Volpe scored on Jose Trevino’s single to right field.
After Trevino was caught stealing, Boyd retired the last 10 Yankees batters he faced.
The Guardians moved out in front 2-1 in the third inning when Rocchio led off with a single and Manzardo homered to right field. It was the rookie’s first career postseason home run and sixth since he returned on Sept. 1 from a minor league demotion.
With New York’s Tim Mayza on the mound in the sixth inning, Thomas stole third base and scored on a single by Andres Gimenez for a 3-1 lead.
The Yankees’ Juan Soto walked with two outs in the eighth inning against Hunter Gaddis before Clase was called on for a four-out save. Judge, who went deep a major-league-leading 58 times in the regular season, homered on a 1-2 count before Stanton blasted his own home run to right-center on a 1-2 count for the 4-3 lead.
“Yeah, look, amazing game to witness,” Boone said. “That was playoff baseball. Both sides just kept coming with haymakers and big at-bats, big moments off of two really good bullpens. They outlasted us tonight. They had one more good swing than us.”
–Field Level Media
