One late-night October meltdown was one too many for the New York Yankees.
Again? Fugedaboudit.
The Yankees scratched out two runs in the ninth inning off All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase and bounced back from a gut-wrenching loss a day earlier, beating the Cleveland Guardians 8-6 on Friday night to take a 3-1 lead in the American League Championship Series.
New York broke a 6-6 tie in the ninth as shortstop Brayan Rocchio booted Alex Verdugo鈥檚 RBI grounder for an error and Gleyber Torres followed with a run-scoring single.
Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run homer, Juan Soto had a two-run, first-inning shot and Austin Wells also connected for the Yankees, who can advance to their 41st World Series 鈥� and first since 2009 鈥� with by winning Game 5 on Saturday night.
Just 24 hours after leaving Progressive Field wondering what went wrong, the Yankees showed resiliency.
鈥淣ot surprised with these guys,鈥� Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. 鈥淥bviously last night was a really tough loss. And whatever happened today, win, lose or draw, there鈥檚 no doubt in my mind we鈥檇 come out ready to roll, ready to turn the page.
鈥淣ot a perfect game, but a gritty, tough, winning game.鈥�
It was a messy ninth for Clase (0-2) as .
New York got three singles in the ninth off the right-hander, who gave up back-to-back homers in the eighth inning of Game 3 but got bailed out when the Guardians hit two-run homers in the ninth and 10th.
He wasn鈥檛 as lucky this time as New York鈥檚 bullpen bent but didn鈥檛 break.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 been able to execute my pitches,鈥� Clase said through an interpreter. 鈥淐redit to them because they鈥檝e been able to execute their at-bats.鈥�
The Guardians are facing elimination in the postseason for the second time. They rallied in the ALDS to get past Detroit and will have to win three straight, including two at Yankee Stadium, to have any chance of ending their 76-year World Series drought.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to show up ready to win,鈥� first-year manager Stephen Vogt said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 who these guys are. Our backs are against the wall, we play our best baseball. We don鈥檛 quit. This team has no quit in it. It hasn鈥檛 all year long.鈥�
For the second straight night, the Yankees relievers struggled in high-leverage situations. The Guardians scored three in the seventh, one in the eighth and threatened in the ninth, putting two runners on.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone went to Tommy Kahnle 鈥� and not closer Luke Weaver 鈥� for the last three outs and the right-hander was able to put away Cleveland by throwing 18 pitches, all changeups.
Stanton鈥檚 404-foot drive in the sixth inning off rookie Cade Smith put the Yankees ahead 6-2. Stanton has seven career postseason hits against Cleveland, all home runs.
After Cleveland closed to 6-5 in the seventh, rookie Jhonkensy Noel sent a shiver through the ballpark when he flied out to the warning track with a man on. Noel鈥檚 pinch-hit, ninth-inning homer had tied Game 3.
The Guardians tied the score in the eighth when the Yankees botched an easy play in the infield, yet another of their fielding and baserunning miscues.
Bo Naylor doubled and moved up on an infield grounder. Mark Leiter Jr. (1-0), as Ian Hamilton鈥檚 injury replacement, got Steven Kwan to pop up. Leiter appeared to get out of the inning when David Fry, one of Cleveland鈥檚 Game 3 home run stars, hit a slow grounder to the right side.
Leiter charged the ball on the grass, knocked it down and scooped the ball barehanded as he neared the foul line toward first. His low flip to first went through Anthony Rizzo鈥檚 legs for an error as Naylor scored.
Stanton, who hit back-to-back homers with Aaron Judge in the eighth inning Thursday, gave the Yankees a four-run lead with his 15th career postseason homer.
Smith, dominant during the regular season, walked Soto leading off the sixth. Judge singled and Stanton drove a 1-2 fastball into the bleachers where a sizable contingent of Yankees fans were waiting for it to land.
鈥淚 was in the zone and I got behind in the count,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚 guess I threw what he was looking for.鈥�
Stanton tied Carlos Beltr谩n and Nelson Cruz for the most homers in the first 35 career playoff games. He also moved into a tie with Judge and Babe Ruth for fourth in club history.
But the personal accolades meant nothing to Stanton. After Game 3, a victory was all that mattered.
And now New York needs one more.
鈥淣o lead is safe,鈥� Stanton said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great team over there, but it鈥檚 just important to keep pushing. They answered the bell. It鈥檚 a wave. It鈥檚 a roller coaster. But yeah, it was good to come out on top today.鈥�
TRAINER鈥橲 ROOM
Yankees: Hamilton injured a calf while covering first base in the sixth inning of Game 3. He won鈥檛 be eligible for the World Series if New York advances. Boone said he considered adding lefty Nestor Cortes but wants to give the lefty as much time as possible to recover from an elbow strain.
UP NEXT
Yankees LHP Carlos Rod贸n makes his second start of the series after a strong Game 1 outing 鈥� one run and three hits with nine strikeouts in six innings. , who was pulled after just 39 pitches in Game 2 and will pitch on three days鈥� rest.
