Cleveland All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase gave up two runs in the ninth inning and the New York Yankees moved closer to another World Series, beating the Guardians 8-6 on Friday night to take a 3-1 lead in the American League Championship Series.
Gleyber Torres hit an RBI single and New York scored its go-ahead run as shortstop Brayan Rocchio booted Alex Verdugo’s grounder for an error.
It was a messy ninth for Clase (0-2) as baseball’s best reliever altered for the second night in a row.
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 got two-run homers in the ninth and the 10th.
Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run homer and Juan Soto hit a two-run shot for the Yankees, who can advance to their 41st World Series with a win in Game 5 on Saturday night.
Austin Wells also homered for New York.
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.
For the second straight night, New York’s bullpen blew a late lead. The Guardians scored three runs in the seventh, one in the eighth and threatened in the ninth, putting two runners on base.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone went to Tommy Kahnle – and not closer Luke Weaver – for the last three outs and the right-hander was able to put away Cleveland, something New York’s relievers couldn’t do Thursday.
Stanton’s 404-foot drive in the sixth inning off Cade Smith put the Yankees ahead 6-2.
Cleveland scored three times in the seventh and rookie Jhonkensy Noel, who had a pinch-hit, ninth-inning homer in Game 3, sent a shiver through Progressive Field by flying out to the warning track.
Cleveland tied it in the eighth when the Yankees, who have hurt themselves in the field and on the bases, botched an easy play in the infield.
Bo Naylor doubled and moved up on an infield grounder. Mark Leiter Jr., added to the Yankees’ ALCS roster earlier in the day as an injury replacement, got Steven Kwan to pop up. Leiter appeared to get out of the inning when David Fry, one of Cleveland’s Game 3 home run stars, hit a slow grounder to the right side.
Leiter charged the ball on the grass and scooped it barehanded as he neared the foul line toward first, but the ball went through first baseman Anthony Rizzo’s legs, allowing Naylor to score the tying run.
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 walked Solo leading off the sixth and Judge singled before Stanton drove a 1-2 fastball from Smith into the bleachers where a sizable contingent of Yankees fans were waiting for it to land.
Stanton tied Carlos Beltrán and Nelson Cruz for the most homers in the first 35 career playoff games. Stanton also moved into a tie with Judge and Babe Ruth for fourth in club history.
