Yankees beat Guardians to close in on World Series

October 19

Cleveland All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase gave up two runs in the ninth inning as the New York Yankees moved closer to another World Series, beating the Guardians 8-6 to take a 3-1 lead in the American League Championship Series (ALCS).

Gleyber Torres hit an RBI single and New York scored their go-ahead run on an error by shortstop Brayan Rocchio, who booted Alex Verdugo’s grounder.

It was a messy ninth for Clase (0-2) as baseball’s best reliever all season faltered for the second night in a row in Cleveland on Friday (Saturday AEDT).

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 a pair of two-run homers in their final two at-bats.

Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run homer and Juan Soto hit a two-run shot for the visiting Yankees, who can advance to their 41st World Series with a win in Game 5 on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).

Just 24 hours after leaving Progressive Field wondering what went wrong in a 7-5 loss, the Yankees showed resiliency.

“Not surprised with these guys,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Obviously last night was a really tough loss. And whatever happened today, win, lose or draw, there’s no doubt in my mind we’d come out ready to roll, ready to turn the page.

“Not a perfect game, but a gritty, tough, winning game.”

The Guardians are facing elimination in the post-season for the second time. They rallied to get past Detroit and now will have to win three straight games – two at Yankee Stadium – to have any chance of ending their 76-year World Series drought.

“We’re going to show up ready to win,” first-year manager Stephen Vogt said. “This team has no quit in it. It hasn’t all year long.”

In New York, Pete Alonso blasted an early three-run homer as the Mets hammered an ineffective Jack Flaherty, extending the National League Championship Series (NLCS) with a 12-6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5.

Starling Marte had three doubles, four hits and three RBIs for New York. Francisco Alvarez broke out of a slump with three hits, including an RBI single in a five-run third inning. Francisco Lindor and Jesse Winker each laced an RBI triple.

After getting blown out in three of the first four games, including the past two nights at home, the wildcard Mets saved their season for the second time in these playoffs – both with the help of a three-run shot by Alonso. They trimmed their series deficit to 3-2 and sent the best-of-seven NLCS back to Los Angeles for Game 6 on Sunday.

“We showed up today. We needed that,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.

“Obviously, Pete setting the tone in the first inning was important. We just continued to add on.”

With an opportunity to pitch his hometown team into the World Series, Flaherty flopped. After throwing seven shutout innings in a Game 1 win, he fell behind 3-0 four batters in when Alonso launched a low slider 432 feet to centre field for his fourth homer this post-season.

Flaherty allowed eight runs and eight hits in three innings. He failed to strike out a batter for the first time since a September 2022 game with St Louis against Pittsburgh.

After striking out 12 times on Thursday night, the Mets did not whiff once in Game 5.

Dodgers rookie Andy Pages homered twice and drove in four runs. Mookie Betts went deep for the second consecutive game, helping Los Angeles cut an eight-run deficit to 10-6.

But then relievers Ryne Stanek and Edwin Diaz settled things down, and the Mets put this one away.

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