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By Tyler Kepner, Chris Kirschner, Brendan Kuty and Zack Meisel
CLEVELAND — For the second night in a row, the New York Yankees scored two runs off Emmanuel Clase, the Cleveland Guardians’ struggling star closer. This time, though, they made the runs stand, taking a thrilling 8-6 victory that gave them a three-games-to-one-lead in the American League Championship Series.
Clase, who served up two homers in Game 3, came into Game 4 with a 6-6 tie in the top of the ninth. The Yankees greeted him with singles by Anthony Rizzo and Anthony Volpe, broke the tie on an infield grounder by Alex Verdugo, and added another run on a single by Gleyber Torres.
After allowing just five earned runs in the regular season, when he posted a 0.61 ERA, Clase has given up eight in six postseason appearances, with a 10.29 ERA. The Yankees, meanwhile, gave the night off to their overworked closer, Luke Weaver, and turned to Tommy Kahnle in the ninth for the save.
The Yankees built a 6-2 lead through six innings with homers by Juan Soto, Austin Wells and Giancarlo Stanton. But they lost the lead in the eighth when Cleveland’s Bo Naylor doubled and scored on a two-out infield single by David Fry off Mark Leiter Jr., who threw wildly to first for an error.
Leiter, who was added to the roster Friday for the injured Ian Hamilton, fanned Josh Naylor on a splitter to end the inning and preserve a 6-6 tie. Then the Yankees went to work again on Clase, and this time escaped Progressive Field with the win.
Giancarlo Stanton is built for October
The Yankees had runners on second and third with one out and Stanton in the batter’s box. Cleveland had Cade Smith, one of MLB’s best relievers during the regular season, on the mound. Despite first base being open and the Guardians having left-handed reliever Tim Herrin ready to face Rizzo, they chose to pitch to Stanton. It was the wrong decision.
Smith threw a 94 mph fastball at the top of the zone, which Stanton sent 404 feet over the left-field wall for a three-run home run, giving the Yankees a 6-2 lead in the sixth inning. This was Stanton’s third home run of the ALCS, tied for the second-most home runs in a single ALCS in franchise history. The home run also gave Stanton 15 career postseason home runs with the Yankees, tying him with Babe Ruth and Aaron Judge for fourth all-time.
Stanton has consistently shown throughout his Yankees tenure that he’s built for October.
“I do think this brings out the best in him because he knows what’s on the line,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said earlier this postseason.
Another game, another huge home run from Giancarlo Stanton 😤
🎥 @MLBpic.twitter.com/qrDsO8FFlw
— The Athletic MLB (@TheAthleticMLB) October 19, 2024
Cleveland’s top relievers are human, it seems
In Game 3, Smith threw 10 pitches, all strikes, and retired Soto, Judge and Stanton in order in about the time it takes to hail a cab in Midtown. In Game 4, the usually unflappable rookie endured the worst outing of his big-league career. Smith walked Soto on five pitches, allowed a first-pitch single to Judge and, after a sacrifice bunt, surrendered Stanton’s three-run shot to the bleachers. Smith’s fastball velocity was noticeably down from its usual standard. He averaged 94.0 mph on nine heaters, down from his season average of 96.0.
In Game 3, his eight fastballs clocked in at an average of 95.2 mph. Stanton’s homer was only the second Smith has allowed this season; Seattle Mariners utility man Dylan Moore hit the other one on June 18. Before Game 4, Smith had limited the opposition to one run on two hits across nine innings this postseason, while racking up 15 strikeouts.
Meanwhile, October has been one unending nightmare for Clase. He has allowed multiple runs in three of his six outings in the postseason; he didn’t do that once during the regular season. Judge and Stanton tagged him with homers in Game 3. On Friday, he served up a series of singles to the bottom of the Yankees’ order.
Yankees bullpen struggles again
After the Yankees’ bullpen fell apart Thursday, they provided a repeat performance. Spotted a four-run lead, the relievers gave it all right back — and in embarrassing fashion. Leiter Jr., Clay Holmes and Jake Cousins combined to surrender a combined four runs, wasting a four-inning, two-run start from rookie Luis Gil.
The worst of it came in the eighth inning against Leiter, who was added to the playoff roster Friday when Ian Hamilton was diagnosed with a left calf strain. The Yankees had acquired Leiter from the Cubs at the trade deadline, and he didn’t pitch well enough to make the AL Division Series or Championship Series rosters. Going into Friday, he hadn’t pitched since Sept. 29. It showed.
Leiter allowed a leadoff double to the corner to Bo Naylor, who moved to third base on Brayan Rocchio’s tapper to shortstop. After a popout by Steven Kwan, Fry hit a dribbler back between first base and the mound. Leiter chased after it, barehanded it and flipped it while close to Rizzo. It went through Rizzo’s legs, allowing Naylor to score and tie the game at 6-6.
It was just as ugly in the seventh. Cousins gave up a walk and a single to start the inning, bringing in Holmes, who surrendered Thursday night’s walk-off homer in the 10th inning. After striking out Fry, José Ramírez’s double to right scored Rocchio to slice the Yankees’ lead to 6-3. Then Josh Naylor crushed a two-run double to right. In the next at-bat, Holmes walked Lane Thomas, forcing Boone to pull Holmes in exchange for Leiter.
Not all game-tying hits are created equal
Jhonkensy Noel clubbed the no-doubter of all no-doubters with two outs in the bottom of the ninth in Game 3. He didn’t even watch the baseball sail into the left-field bleachers. He flung his bat to the grass, put his head down and began his home run trot as the Guardians staved off a 3-0 series deficit with a moonshot that left his bat at 109 mph. One night later, Fry tied the game in the bottom of the eighth with, well, the antithesis of that majestic drive. Fry’s bouncer back to the mound, which Leiter Jr. booted, then tossed between Rizzo’s legs, registered an exit velocity of 40.3 mph. Fry’s two-out infield single completed a four-run comeback spurred by run-scoring hits by Ramírez and Josh Naylor.
Rizzo’s defense has been suspect
Rizzo’s defense has come up short for the Yankees in back-to-back games. As noted above, Fry’s soft ground ball to Leiter Jr., which the pitcher initially misplayed, was then flipped to Rizzo at first base, who whiffed. The ball went between Rizzo’s legs—shades of Bill Buckner—and the Guardians tied the game at 6.
The Guardians were down 6-2 in the 6th inning.
They just tied the game in the 8th 👀
🎥 @MLBNpic.twitter.com/HSPeip60M2
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) October 19, 2024
Rizzo was also unable to reel in a softly hit double down the right-field line in the first inning off Kyle Manzardo’s bat, which led to a Guardians run.
In Game 3, Rizzo made an error in the ninth inning on a grounder hit by Ramírez. He was also unable to come up with a ball hit one step to his left. Boone was asked about his defense before Game 4.
“When he came back in September, I thought he was great, and then he’s had a couple of plays that he typically makes,” Boone said. “You always expect so much out of him when he’s out there, and I feel like that’s the way he played in the month of September. That would be my expectation moving forward.”
If the Yankees advance, it’s something to monitor.
(Top photo of Austin Wells and Tommy Kahnle: Lauren Leigh Bacho / MLB Photos via Getty Images)
