CLEVELAND — This time, the New York Yankees did not panic in the face of a comeback bid from the Cleveland Guardians, and they are now on the brink of winning the American League Championship Series for the first time in 15 years.
Alex Verdugo and Gleyber Torres each drove in a run in the ninth inning and New York moved within one win of its first World Series appearance since 2009 with an 8-6 victory over the Guardians on Friday night in Game 4 of the ALCS.
Giancarlo Stanton, Juan Soto and Austin Wells hit home runs for the Yankees, who would bend as Cleveland came back from a four-run deficit, but they did not break after a heartbreaking loss in Game 3, where the Guardians rallied with home runs in the ninth and 10th innings.
“No lead is safe,” said Stanton, who hit his fourth home run of the postseason. “It’s a great team over there, but it’s just important to keep pushing. We need every single person on our team to contribute in some way. … It’s a wave. It’s a roller coaster. But it was good to come out on top.”
After he was added to the Yankees’ ALCS roster on Friday as an injury replacement, right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. (1-0) allowed a run in the eighth as Cleveland tied the score at 6-all. But he still earned the win, and Tommy Kahnle logged a scoreless ninth for his first save of the postseason.
Josh Naylor had two hits and three RBIs while Jose Ramirez had two hits and two RBIs for the Guardians, who lost for the seventh time in 10 games against New York during the regular season and the playoffs.
“When our backs are against the wall, we play our best baseball,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “We don’t quit. This team has no quit in it. It hasn’t all year long. It doesn’t matter how we played the day before, days leading up to it. This team is going to show up with the same attitude, same mindset we do every day.”
Cleveland right-hander Emmanuel Clase (0-2), who had 47 saves in the regular season, gave up both Yankees runs in the ninth inning on three hits and one walk to absorb the loss.
Game 5 is set for Saturday in Cleveland.
“Not surprised with these guys,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Obviously (Game 3) was a really tough loss, and whatever happened today, win, lose or draw, there’s no doubt in my mind we’d come out ready to roll, ready to turn the page. … I thought we played an excellent game. Not a perfect game, but a gritty, tough, winning game.”
The Yankees took a 2-0 lead six pitches into the game when Torres singled on Gavin Williams’ first pitch of the contest and Soto followed with a home run to center. It was Soto’s second homer of the playoffs.
The Guardians answered quickly, as Steven Kwan led off the bottom of the first with a walk and later scored on a Ramirez sacrifice fly.
New York took a 3-1 lead in the second inning on Wells’ solo home run before Cleveland got the run back in the third on an RBI single from Naylor.
The Yankees took a 6-2 lead in the sixth inning when Soto walked, Aaron Judge singled and Stanton blasted a three-run home run to left-center field off Cade Smith. It was Stanton’s second home run in two games and his third of the ALCS.
The Guardians pulled within a run at 6-5 in the seventh inning on Ramirez’s one-out RBI double and Naylor’s two-run double.
Cleveland tied the game at 6 in the ninth inning when David Fry hit a comebacker to Leiter, who knocked the ball down and chased it into foul territory, then flipped it to first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who was unable to handle the throw, allowing Bo Naylor to score.
In the Yankees’ half of the ninth inning, Rizzo and Anthony Volpe singled against Clase. Verdugo’s roller to shortstop was bobbled by Brayan Rocchio for an error and a 7-6 lead. Torres followed with an RBI single.
“That is what the Yankees do really well, they take a really good approach and then they get pitches over the middle,” Vogt said. “They don’t miss them, and they really capitalized. With Emmanuel, I think the ball was just leaking over the middle a little bit, and they were able to get some runs.”
Williams was tagged for three runs on three hits in 2 1/3 innings. New York starter Luis Gil went four innings, yielding two runs and three hits.
–Field Level Media
