![]() |
Juan Soto watches his home run in the 10th inning. @Yankees. |
The Yankees won the American League championship on Saturday night in a thrilling 5-2 win in 10 innings over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 5 of the ALCS on Saturday night.
This is the Yankees' 41st pennant in their illustrious history, and it will be their first appearance in the World Series since 2009.
It will be the first World Series appearance for Aaron Judge, who has done everything in his career but star in the Fall Classic, and it's also the first for Aaron Boone as the Yankees Manager in his seventh season at the helm. Of course, Boone was in the 2003 Series as a player after hitting his home run in Game 7 that year against Boston in the ALCS.
The ones who did it for them have done it for them all October, as Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run home run - his fight of the postseason - to tie the game int he sixth, and then Juan Soto did what they brought him to The Bronx to do, as he hit the game-winning three-run home run in the 10th inning.
They will face the winners of the NLCS between the Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers. If the Mets come back to win it, this will be the first Subway Series since 2000, and if it's Los Angeles, it will be the first meeting between the longtime rivals since 1981.
This game began like nearly all Yankee playoff games have, with Gleyber Torres getting on base, this time with a single to right-center field off Cleveland starting pitcher Tanner Bibee.
Juan Soto, as he often does, followed with a big hit, this one a double up the right field gap. When Cleveland right fielder Jhonensky Noel got to it, he fired it in to second baseman Andres Gimenez, who threw a strike to the plate to nab Torres, who was trying to score all the way from the first base.
Aaron Judge then was hit by a pitch, so the Yankees still had a big chance with runners at first and second base, but Giancarlo Stanton struck out. Jazz Chisholm Jr. was then hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Bibee got Anthony Rizzo to line out to left field.
Yankees starter Carlos Rodon picked up where he left off from his superb outing in Game 1 by retiring Cleveland in order in the bottom of the first.
The Guardians, or more specifically the Naylors, got to Rodon in the second when Josh singled and came in to score on a two-out double from Bo.
Cleveland added another run in the fifth when Gimenez doubled and came in to score on a single by Kwan to make it 2-0 Guardians.
Rodon exited after David Fry singled, and Mark Leiter Jr. came on and got out of what turned into a bases loaded jam.
The left-hander went 4 2/3 innings, and allowed two runs (both earned) on five hits and a walk, with six strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Bibee was sailing along for Cleveland and was still out there in the top of the sixth.
It would be the third time through the Yankee order, and Torres and Soto started it off with singles. Judge was up next, and he hit into a tailor-made 4-6-3 double play.
But, up came the new Mr. October, Stanton, and Cleveland stuck with Bibee.
Not surprisingly, in a couple minutes, it was 2-2 after Stanton hit yet another rocket into the left-field seats.
That would be all for Bibee, who went 5 2/3, and allowed those two runs on six hits and no walks, with five strikeouts.
It has to be noted that if Bibee left after five, it would have been no runs on three hits instead, but can't really blame them for sticking with him with how inept the Cleveland bullpen has been in this series.
It was still tied in the ninth when the Yankees had the heart of the order against Cleveland closer Emanuel Clase, but for the first time all series, he stepped up and got Judge to fly out to right field, struck out Stanton, who no question was looking to give the Yankees the lead with one swing; and then after Chisholm singled, Oswaldo Cabrera grounded right to shortstop Brayan Rocchio, who was playing right by the second base bag, so he stepped on it to force out Chisholm and end the frame.
Luke Weaver came on for the bottom of the ninth, and retired Cleveland 1-2-3.
Hunter Gaddis came on for Cleveland in the 10th, and he allowed a one-out walk to Austin Wells before Alex Verdugo hit what could have been a double play ball, but Gimenez threw it over Rocchio's head, so the Yankees had runners at first and second for Torres, who struck out.
Soto was up next, and he was all set to do what the Yankees brought him here to do: send them to the World Series.
Gaddis had a 1-2 count on Soto, who fouled four straight off, waited for his pitch, and when he got a 95.2 MPH fastball down the middle, he crushed it for a three-run shot to put the Yankees up 5-2.
Weaver stayed on for the bottom of the 10th, and the final out was caught, fittingly, by Soto.
No comments:
Post a Comment