Yankees inch closer to World Series after wild win vs. Guardians
CLEVELAND — Shortly after David Fry crushed a walk-off homer for the Guardians in Game 3 of the ALCS, one Yankee after another insisted the team had nothing to worry about.
“There’s no doubt we can overcome this and bounce back,” said Clay Holmes, who surrendered the game-ending blast on Thursday. “It’s a resilient group of guys.”
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That resiliency showed on Friday night, as the Yankees rebounded for an 8-6, Game 4 win at Progressive Field. With one more victory, the team will return to the World Series for the first time since 2009.
A cast of characters boosted the Bombers’ bounce-back, but it was Giancarlo Stanton who continued to command the spotlight at its brightest.
After seeing his dramatic, go-ahead solo homer wasted in Game 3, the designated hitter improved upon his pristine playoff reputation with a three-run homer to left in the sixth inning of Game 4. As Stanton stared at his 404-foot shot off Cade Smith, he became just the second Yankee to hit at least four home runs in multiple postseasons.
Reggie Jackson, nicknamed Mr. October for his postseason prowess, is the only other member of the group.
Stanton now has 15 home runs over 35 playoff games. All have come with the Yankees. He also entered Game 4 with the 10th-best OPS (1.003) and wRC+ (166) among players with at least 100 postseason plate appearances.
While Stanton gave the Yankees 6-2 lead, others slugged the Guardians earlier in the night.
With his team fresh off a brutal loss, Juan Soto set the tone early with a two-run homer off Gavin Williams in the opening inning. Like Stanton, Soto watched his ball fly as it traveled 414 feet.
Cleveland got a run back in the bottom of the first when José Ramírez picked up a sac fly, but Austin Wells ripped a solo shot for his first playoff home run in the second inning.
The rookie catcher, after a 2-for-26 start to his first postseason, found himself batting eighth after becoming the Yankees’ go-to cleanup hitter over the summer.
While Yankees manager Aaron Boone decided it was finally time to demote Wells in the order — the 25-year-old also struggled in September — the manager simultaneously foreshadowed a breakthrough.
“I really do have confidence moving forward,” Boone said before the game. “He’s going to have good at-bats or the right at-bats, and it’s, ‘Boom,’ right away.”
Wells also caught Luis Gil, who pitched in his first game since Sept. 28 after not appearing in the ALDS.
Following Ramírez’s sac fly, Gil allowed a third-inning single to Josh Naylor. However, the fireballing righty held the Guardians to those two runs as he gutted through four innings in his postseason debut.
While Stanton opened the game up a few innings after Gil’s departure, Cleveland rallied against Holmes for the second straight night in the seventh. Ramírez and Naylor each had RBI doubles off the former closer. That made it a one-run game, but Mark Leiter Jr., added to the roster hours earlier in place of the injured Ian Hamilton, stopped the bleeding there for the time being.
That changed in the eighth when Fry softly grounded a ball toward Leiter. The reliever knocked it toward the foul line and flipped it to Anthony Rizzo, but the ball went under the first baseman’s mitt, allowing Bo Naylor to score from third.
The Yankees found more resiliency in the ninth though, as Emmanuel Clase also failed his team for the second game in a row.
Rizzo and Anthony Volpe each singled off the closer, and the shortstop then stole second. Rizzo scored when Brayan Rocchio botched an Alex Verdugo grounder, while Volpe crossed the plate on a Gleyber Torres single.
Having blown a sizable lead themselves, the Yankees completed their own comeback when Tommy Kahnle worked around traffic in the ninth.
With Game 4 in the books, the Yankees now have a 3-1 lead in the series. With Game 5 set for Saturday night in Cleveland, the Yankees have a chance to celebrate a pennant in enemy territory before enjoying some down time prior to the World Series.
Carlos Rodón will take the ball in his first road start of these playoffs. The lefty dominated the Guardians in Game 1 of the series, holding them to one run and three hits while walking none and striking out nine over six innings.
Tanner Bibee will start for Cleveland after also starting Game 1. He’ll be looking for a longer outing after only lasting 1 1/3 innings that night.
