CLEVELAND — After a meltdown in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase posted a video to his Instagram showing his past accolades while wearing the rings from his three All-Star appearances.
With this post, he signaled to the baseball world that the New York Yankees had shaken him up. Klass was so upset that he felt the need to remind everyone of his past glories, and turned away the trophies from previous seasons. But what he learned Friday is that it doesn’t matter.
For the second straight night, the Yankees took advantage of Clase’s struggles. Anthony Rizzo and Anthony Volpe led off the ninth inning with back-to-back singles. Alex Verdugo made enough contact on a softly hit grounder to bring home the run. Gleyber Torres then added an insurance run with an RBI single. When Clase disastrous ninth inning came to an end, he had surrendered three hits, a walk and two runs.
The Yankees won 8–6 and took a 3–1 series lead over the Guardians, moving them one win away from their first World Series lead since 2009.
“That’s what the Yankees do really well,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said of his team’s batters against Klass. “They take a great approach against your pitcher, and when they get pitches up the middle, they don’t miss them.”
Juan Soto certainly didn’t miss his pitch in the first inning. While clase blew his save chance on Thursday, the Guardians still managed to win on a walk-off home run by David Fry. If there was any doubt about the lingering hangover from Game 3’s dramatics, it was dispelled in Game 4 with just two batters.
Soto crushed a two-run home run off Cleveland’s starting pitcher, Gavin Williams, giving the Yankees an immediate 2-0 lead. Before the game, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman remarked that Game 3 was about “s— in”.
His team quickly ignited that passion three minutes into the night. This is what the 2024 Yankees have done better than previous years.
They could have folded during their mid-summer slump and settled for a wild-card spot, but instead, they kept the pressure on the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. He may have succumbed to outside calls to replace struggling veterans, particularly Verdugo, but manager Aaron Boone continued to believe in his players when no one on the outside did.
It was reasonable that Verdugo’s contact-based approach was sufficient to proceed against the class. Boone said with confidence that Clay Holmes would do a big job for the Yankees in the postseason, and that despite being tired from pitching every game this October, it led to tough nights. But the Yankees probably wouldn’t have gotten this far without Holmes’ dominance.
The past two nights may not have been the most aesthetically pleasing games, but how many times have Yankees fans seen their team fail to find a way to win under similar circumstances? Game 3 starter Clark Schmidt noted one key difference this year: the camaraderie in the locker room. More than ever, he felt that everyone was pulling for each other. Torres echoed that sentiment, emphasizing that egos have been put aside. It’s no coincidence that the Yankees lead all AL postseason teams in walks.
Game 4 has been what it’s been like for the Yankees this season. They needed their supporting cast when it mattered most. Mark Leiter Jr., who was not on the ALCS roster as of Friday afternoon, pitched five key outs. Austin Wells, mired in a deep slump since September, hit a solo home run and navigated a revolving door of bullpen arms to secure the win. Louis Gill, filling in for Garrett Cole earlier in the season, was able to pitch four innings while allowing just two runs.
When they needed to turn their power, the Yankees’ stars delivered. In addition to his two-run home run, Soto made a leaping catch on a fastball from Frye in the fifth inning, preventing potential pressure on the bullpen. Giancarlo Stanton, this generation’s Mr. October, continued his postseason dominance by crushing a three-run homer off Guardians reliever Cade Smith, extending the Yankees’ lead to 6-2. It was Stanton’s 15th career postseason home run with the Yankees, tying him with Babe Ruth and Aaron Judge for fourth. Boone needed just two words to describe Stanton’s performance that October.
“Just special,” Boone said.
The Yankees have come as close to the World Series as recently as 2017, when they fell to the Houston Astros in a Game 7. Only Judge and Tommy Kahnle remain on the squad, but the majority of this roster carries the weight of previous disappointments. Except for Rizzo and Soto, who have World Series rings with other organizations, every player knows a season cut. This shared experience is why they approach what awaits with relative calm.
In 2009, after the Los Angeles Lakers took a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals, a reporter asked Kobe Bryant why he wasn’t happy. Fifteen years later, the Yankees echoed Bryant’s famous three-word mantra in the clubhouse Friday night in various ways: “The job’s not over.”
