Two mighty swings saved the Cleveland Guardians’ season.
They are alive in the American League Championship Series thanks to a ninth-inning, game-tying two-run home run by Jhonkensy Noel, and David Fry followed an inning later with a similar two-run clout to give Cleveland a 7-5, 10-inning victory over the New York Yankees in Game 3 Thursday night at Progressive Field.
The Guardians will wake up Friday morning very much in this ALCS, even as they were just one out away from falling into a surely insurmountable 3-0 ALCS deficit.
Instead, the Yankees lead the series 2-1, and while their greater pitching depth still bodes well for their first AL pennant since 2009, this thing just got a lot more interesting.
Fry’s second huge homer this postseason – he hit a go-ahead shot in Game 4 of the AL Division Series to turn that series around – walked off the Yankees and reliever Clay Holmes, the second previously indomitable New York reliever to succumb. An inning earlier, it was closer Luke Weaver who gave up a laser two-out double to Lane Thomas to give the Guardians life in the ninth, before Noel – they call him ‘Big Christmas in Cleveland – pulverized a pitch and sent it 404 feet to tie the game.
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All this came one inning after Yankee sluggers Aaron Judge hit game-tying and go-ahead homers off Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase, who’d given up just two home runs all season. No matter: Noel’s blast erased Clase’s poor inning along with a ninth-inning misplay in which the Guardians botched a rundown and allowed an insurance run to score.
Game 4 is Friday night, pitting Yankees rookie Luis Gil vs. all of Cleveland, seemingly. That formula tilted in the Guardians’ favor in Game 3.
– Gabe Lacques
Here’s how Thursday’s thriller unfolded:
Jhonkensy Noel homer sends Game 3 to extras
Down to their final out before falling into a practically hopeless hole in their American League Championship Series, the Cleveland Guardians were brought back to life thanks to a gift-wrapped delivery from Jhonkensy Noel.
The hulking slugger they call ‘Big Christmas’ sent a pitch from New York Yankees closer Luke Weaver 404 feet over the wall in left center field, tying Game 3 at 5-5 through nine innings at Progressive Field.
Just when it seemed a back-to-back power display from Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton – who in the eighth inning hit two-run and solo game-tying and go-ahead homers, respectively – would vault the Yankees to the edge of the AL pennant, the Guardians roughed up the previously indomitable Weaver.
Playoff hero Lane Thomas nearly hit one out to dead center but settled for a ringing double, setting the stage for Noel’s pinch-hitting appearance. He did not miss.
Noel clocked a 1-0 changeup far beyond the left field wall to send the game to extra innings, where the Yankees will have a slight upper hand.
Sure, they’re the road team but still have one high-leverage weapon – Clay Holmes – left in their bullpen, while the Guardians had to use all their top arms to get the game this far.
Reminder: There is no automatic runner placed on second in postseason games.
Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton go back-to-back: Yankees lead
The American League MVP looked buried against the game’s best closer. But even when Aaron Judge is down, he’s often not out.
And now the New York Yankees are on the verge of a commanding lead in the American League Championship Series.
Judge hit a two-out, two-strike, two-run home run with two outs in the eighth inning off Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase, followed immediately by a go-ahead blast form Giancarlo Stanton, as the Yankees took a 4-3 lead in Game 3 at Progressive Field.
The Yankees had struggled through five innings against Guardians lefty Matthew Boyd, and then Cleveland’s usual cavalcade of clutch relievers maintained a 3-1 advantage entering the eighth. But Juan Soto drew a two-out walk against Hunter Gaddis, prompting manager Stephen Vogt to summon Clase, who converted 47 of 50 save chances this year.
He also nailed down five-out and two-inning saves in the AL Division Series against Detroit. But the Tigers didn’t have Judge.
Gearing his approach toward right field the entire at-bat, Judge blasted a ball on a line toward the right field wall, and it struck the top of it and spun over. Tie game.
Before the stunned crowd could recover, Stanton – batting fourth only because manager Aaron Boone juggled the lineup against a lefty starter – crushed a ball to 390 feet to right center field. And now the Yankees are six outs from a 3-0 ALCS lead.
– Gabe Lacques
Andrés Giménez extends Cleveland lead in sixth
Ian Hamilton took over to the start the bottom of the sixth for the Yankees, but walked leadoff man Lane Thomas, who eventually got to third with one out. Tim Mayza came out of the bullpen to face lefty Andrés Giménez, who jumped on the southpaw to deliver an RBI single and extend Cleveland’s lead to 3-1.
Guardians retire 13 in a row.
It’s another quick 1-2-3 inning with Cade Smith retiring Soto, Judge and Stanton in the sixth. Yanks still without anyone on base since the second inning.
Ian Hamilton enters for the Yanks in the bottom of the sixth, Cleveland still up 2-1.
– Pete Caldera, NorthJersey.com
Kyle Manzardo home run puts Guardians ahead
CLEVELAND — Rookie Kyle Manzardo hit his first playoff home run in the third inning Thursday to give the Guardians a 2-1 lead over the Yankees in Game 3 of the ALCS at Progressive Field.
Manzardo drilled a 3-1 pitch by Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt 395 feet into the seats in right field to give the Guardians their first lead of the series. Manzardo’s homer had a 108 mph exit velocity and also scored Brayan Rocchio, who led off the inning with a single.
– Michael Beaven, Akron Beacon Journal
Jose Trevino gives Yankees second-inning lead
The New York Yankees are proving that maybe it’s good to take a few weeks off from live pitching.
Jose Trevino, who had not taken an at-bat in the postseason while backing up starting catcher Austin Wells, singled sharply to right field in his first plate appearance since Sept. 29 to stake the Yankees to a 1-0 lead in the second inning of ALCS Game 3 at Cleveland.
Trevino got the start against left-hander Matthew Boyd as the lefty-swinging Wells, who is 2 for 24 this postseason, got the night off. Trevino came up after a one-out walk to Anthony Volpe and an Alex Verdugo double, and drove home Volpe with the shot to right.
Trevino was picked off first, however, with Verdugo on third, blunting the potential for a bigger inning.
The Yankees got instant offense earlier this series from first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who singled in his first at-bat after a 15-day hiatus due to finger fractures, and he tallied three hits in his first seven at-bats.
– Gabe Lacques
ALCS Game 3 underway in Cleveland
After the Yankees stranded a pair in the top of the first, the Guardians got runners to first and second with nobody out on a Steven Kwan walk and Kyle Manzardo single. New York starter Clarke Schmidt then struck out Jose Ramirez and got back-to-back groundouts from Josh Naylor and Lane Thomas to end the threat.
Yankees lineup, ALCS Game 3
Gleyber Torres (R) 2B
Juan Soto (L) RF
Aaron Judge (R) CF
Giancarlo Stanton (R) DH
Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L) 3B
Jon Berti (R) 1B
Anthony Volpe (R) SS
Alex Verdugo (L) LF
Jose Trevino (R) C
Guardians lineup, ALCS Game 3
Steven Kwan (L) LF
Kyle Manzardo (L) DH
José Ramírez (S) 3B
Josh Naylor (L) 1B
Lane Thomas (R) CF
Daniel Schneemann (L) RF
Andrés Giménez (L) 2B
Austin Hedges (R) C
Brayan Rocchio (S) SS
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