It has been a foregone conclusion for many that the New York Yankees were about to walk all over the Cleveland Guardians en route to a World Series appearance.
As longtime ESPN pundit Lee Corso often says, “Not so fast, my friend!”
With their backs against the wall in Game 3, the Guardians came from behind thrillingly to beat the Yankees by a score of 7-5. This truly was a slugfest — where both teams connected with serious blows time and time again until Cleveland landed the decisive punch.
Credit has to be given to Cleveland starter Matthew Boyd. In a postseason where the Guardians have had to rely on their bullpen more than practically any other team, he gave them five innings in this contest — allowing only two hits and one earned run. It appeared as if Cleveland was on course to snuff out the game with its elite pen. However, the Yankees had other ideas — especially when Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton hit back-to-back homers off Emmanuel Clase in the eighth inning to give the Yankees the lead.
At that point, the Yankees must’ve been feeling pretty good with a two-run lead heading to the Bottom of the 9th. Luke Weaver had been untouchable up to that point all postseason long. The Yanks were three outs away from taking a commanding 3-0 lead in this series.
With two outs and a runner on, Jhonkensy Noel was put into the game as a pinch hitter. Versus the nasty stuff of Weaver, Noel clubbed a two-run HR off a breaking ball to send this game into extra innings. By that point, the crowd went bananas, and the Yankees were understandably shocked.
After holding New York scoreless in the top half of the inning, the Guardians faced off against the much-maligned Clay Holmes. Holmes had been very good in the playoffs leading up to this spot. With a runner on, David Fry stepped up and launched a homer clear over the left-field wall — thus giving the Guardians the win.
Game 4 figures to be very interesting. Cleveland is slated to start Gavin Williams, whereas the Yankees will throw Luis Gil. Neither guy has made a start in nearly a month. As such, we don’t really know what to expect from either. As for the Yankees, their fanbase has to hope the emotional hangover doesn’t occur. Once Judge and Stanton hit the HRs off Clase, the thought of going up 3-0 and stealing a game on the road in dramatic come-from-behind fashion appeared all too real.
However, thanks to the theatrics of the Guardians, this series may have been thrown on its head. The Yankees will surely want to wrestle back control with a win here — thus setting up a situation where Cleveland has to win three in a row to advance.