The New York Yankees are one win away from reaching the World Series for the first time in 15 years after holding on against the Cleveland Guardians in another wild ALCS game on Friday night. The Yankees plated two runs in the ninth inning against All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase to secure an 8-6 victory in Game 4. The Yankees coughed up a four-run lead before some clutch hitting in the ninth, and the win gives New York a 3-1 advantage in the best-of-seven series.
The Yankees scored twice against Clase, the All-Star closer who has not been anywhere close to his dominant self in October. Clase allowed two runs on three hits -- including an RBI single from Gleyber Torres -- as his postseason ERA ballooned to 10.29. Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning, his fourth of the playoffs, to make it 6-2 Yankees.
But Cleveland made some late-inning noise for the second night in a row. The Guardians scored three runs in the seventh inning, getting RBI doubles from José Ramírez and Josh Naylor. Then they tied the game in the eighth inning on an infield single from David Fry that couldn't be handled by reliever Mark Leiter Jr.
The Yankees will try to win their first pennant since 2009 in Saturday night's Game 5. But before that, let's break down an exciting Game 4 with some takeaways.
Yankees rally in ninth to overcome
Once again, this was a classic with a ton of action in the late innings. The Yankees had a 6-2 lead cut to 6-5 in the seventh. Then the Guardians tied it in the eighth. And the Yankees responded with a big inning in the ninth.
The score was 6-6 heading to the ninth and Clase entered with the bottom of the Yankees' order looming. Anthony Rizzo singled. So did Anthony Volpe, getting pinch runner Jon Berti to third. Volpe stole second. After a strikeout, Alex Verdugo hit a weak grounder to short that was going to score a run anyway, but then Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio misplayed it. It was 7-6 with just one out. Gleyber Torres followed with an RBI single, making it 8-6 Yankees. Clase would escape after that, though he had to do so with the bases loaded.
Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle worked a scoreless ninth to close things down, but not before the Guardians put two runners on base.
After the Guardians won Game 3 with a game-tying home run in the ninth and walk-off home run in the 10th, more nails were bit on Friday. But this time the Yankees got the last laugh.
Stanton comes up with another big swing
The Guardians trailed 3-2 and got to the portion of the game where they could turn things over to their big four relievers (we'll get to them in a second). In the top of the sixth, Juan Soto walked, Aaron Judge singled and then, after a sac bunt from Jazz Chisholm Jr., Giancarlo Stanton provided what proved to be necessary breathing room for his Yankees pitchers.
That majestic blast traveled 404 feet and looked like it was about a mile in the air.
Remember, the Yankees might not even be here without Stanton's postseason heroics. He hit an eighth-inning homer in Game 3 against the Royals that proved to be the difference. In eight playoff games this year, he is 9 for 29 with two doubles, four home runs and nine RBI. He's also walked five times compared to three strikeouts.
A career .257/.345/.525 hitter in the regular season, Stanton is now slashing .270/.345/.667 with 15 homers and 33 RBI in 35 playoff games.
A meltdown from Cleveland's 'pen
The Guardians had the best bullpen in baseball in the regular season and it was thought to be a major reason why they could make a run to the World Series heading into the playoffs. It was a deep bullpen, but four studs in particular stood out: Cade Smith (1.91 ERA), Tim Herrin (1.92 ERA), Hunter Gaddis (1.57 ERA) and Emmanuel Clase (0.61 ERA).
The playoffs have been a different story. Clase has already allowed more earned runs and home runs in his five playoff outings than his 74 in the regular season. Gaddis -- who was sharp in Game 4-- just finished a three-game span where he allowed four runs on five hits and two walks in two innings. Herrin and Smith had both only allowed one run in the playoffs before Game 4, but Smith coughed up the Stanton home run, giving him three earned runs allowed in this one. And then Clase entered with a tie game and gave up two runs in the ninth.
This is absolutely not how the Guardians drew up the postseason, that's for sure.
Soto struck first
Yes, there was some action before the Stanton homer, believe it or not. It didn't take very long before the Yankees had a lead in Game 4. Gleyber Torres led off the game with a single against Guardians starter Gavin Williams. Williams then fell behind, 3-1, to Juan Soto and tried to sneak a high fastball by him. Big mistake. Huge.
Unsurprisingly, Soto is having a very productive postseason. He's 8 for 28 with a double, two homers, five RBI, five runs and seven walks.
Fun oddity: Soto joins Mike Napoli, Manny Ramirez, Kyle Schwarber, Carlos Beltran and David Justice in having hit at least two homers in a single postseason for three different teams. Might Soto make it four next year? We'll shelve that until the offseason.
The Yankees also got some early production from catcher Austin Wells. Wells hit poorly enough down the stretch to earn a benching for Game 3 and a demotion in the lineup to the eight hole in Game 4. Entering the game, he was 2 for 26 in the playoffs after having gone 1 for his last 29 in the regular season. He hit a solo homer in the bottom of the second.
Guardians proving they won't go quietly
Would anyone have expected anything less after the craziness from Game 3? Of course the Guardians fought back in this one. Back-to-back doubles from Ramírez -- who is quietly getting hot, by the way -- and Naylor cut the Yankees' lead to 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh. The Yankees were forced to turn to Mark Leiter Jr., who was just added to the ALCS roster as an injury replacement Friday afternoon. The Guardians pinch hit with Jhonkensy Noel (one of Game 3's heroes). There were two runners on base. And he sent a deep fly ball down the left-field line. Surely, many Yankees fan assumed the worst when they saw the ball off the bat, but it died on the warning track and nestled harmlessly into Alex Verdugo's glove. Leiter would strike the next hitter out to end the threat and strand two.
In the bottom of the eighth, Bo Naylor led off with a double and then advanced to third with one out. And then with two outs, the Guardians tied the game on a funky grounder from David Fry which was misplayed, twice, by the Yankees.
Leiter regrouped and stranded Fry at second base, which set the stage for the Yankees' ninth-inning rally.
What's next?
They'll play again Saturday evening in Cleveland for Game 5. On the mound, it's a rematch of Game 1 with Carlos Rodón going for the Yankees while Tanner Bibee starts for the Guardians.
Coming back from a 3-1 deficit is a very tall order. Teams with a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven MLB series are 79-14 in winning the series. Of course, it isn't automatic. It happened in 2020 and it actually happened to Cleveland in 2016. We also just saw the Mets win Game 5 at home while facing a 3-1 deficit to stay alive against the Dodgers in the NLCS.
