NEW YORK, NY — The New York Yankees stand one victory away from the World Series, winning a thrilling Game 4 of the ALCS, 8-6 at Progressive Field in Cleveland against the Guardians.
The Yankees, up 3-1 in the best of seven series, got off to a hot start led by Latinos in Gleyber Torres and Juan Soto. The Venezuelan Torres continued his hot postseason play with a leadoff single against Guardians’ right-handed starting pitcher Gavin Williams. The Dominican star Soto took care of the rest with a two-run home run to get New York’s dugout jumping in celebration.
JUAN SOTO STARTS THINGS OFF WITH A BLAST 💥 pic.twitter.com/aJ22phEiQL
— MLB (@MLB) October 19, 2024
It was the second home run of the postseason for Soto and Torres’ eighth hit throughout the Yankees’ October run.
Postseason Showing for Torres and Soto
Soto: two home runs, five RBI, and an OPS of .952 in 28 at-bats.
Torres: one home run, five RBI, and an OPS of .838 in 32 at-bats.
A tough assignment for Williams out of the gate, who had not pitched since September 22. Later in his outing, he gave up a solo home run to Dominican-American catcher Austin Wells, who responded after being dropped to eighth in the Yankees’ batting order from his normal clean-up role.
AUSTIN POWERS 🔥
Groovy, baby pic.twitter.com/EPbstmFYO3
— MLB (@MLB) October 19, 2024
With the HR, Wells made Yankee history by becoming the first-ever Yankees’ rookie catcher to hit a postseason home run.
On the mound for New York, the Yankees started Dominican right-hander Luis Gil, who like Williams, hadn’t pitched in a while, with his last appearance coming on September 28. Gil totaled four innings and gave up two runs with three strikeouts, as the score stood 3-2 going into the sixth.
Puerto Rican American Giancarlo Stanton came up huge again with a three-run home run off Guardians reliever Cade Smith, tying him for the postseason lead with four home runs and gave the Yankees a comfortable 6-2 lead.
POSTSEASON STANTON!! pic.twitter.com/5m0IaoE1EE
— MLB (@MLB) October 19, 2024
For Stanton, he is having a tremendous postseason, leading all current players with an OPS of 1.167 in 30 at-bats and his third with nine RBI. Slugging his fourth home run this postseason, joins him with Reggie Jackson as the only two Yankees to hit four or more home runs in two-seperate postseasons for the Yankees.
Stanton’s Postseason Numbers
15 home runs, 33 RBI, and an OPS of 1.011 in 140 at-bats
A postseason for the ages for Giancarlo Stanton – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports (Photo captured from ALCS Game 1)
The Stanton blast wouldn’t hold up long, as the Yanks’ bullpen faced huge trouble in the seventh with Jake Cousins leaving the game and runners on the corners. As Cousins was removed, Clay Holmes came in to try and put out the fire.
Holmes was off to a good start with a strikeout of David Fry, who hit a walk-off Game 4 home run against him the previous night. But, the Yankees’ reliever got hit hard after the strikeout on Fry, giving up RBI doubles to Dominican star third baseman Jose Ramirez and first baseman Josh Naylor. It was 6-5 after the seventh and tensions got high for New York.
Mark Leiter Jr. came in after Holmes and got out of a huge jam in the seventh after he hadn’t pitched since September 29 and was added to the roster for Game 4, after Ian Hamilton got hurt. Leiter Jr. made an error on the mound that caused the game to be tied in the eighth.
TIE BALLGAME
MORE MAGIC IN CLEVELAND pic.twitter.com/8TlyTZPtTF
— MLB (@MLB) October 19, 2024
2022 AL Latino Reliever/Closer of the Year Emmanuel Clase was tasked with trying to keep the game tied after blowing a save in Game 3. The Yankees got to him again right away with hits from Anthony Rizzo and Anthony Volpe, who soon later stole second.
It was then Mexican-American outfielder Alex Verdugo giving the Yankees the lead with a fielder’s choice and reaching on an error from Guardians’ shortstop Brayan Rocchio. Next up, Torres, padded the lead to 8-6 with an RBI single.
Gleyber Torres adds another in the 9th 🤯 pic.twitter.com/IABLai56BA
— MLB (@MLB) October 19, 2024
Clase in totality this October, has hit a wall against the Yankees allowing five runs against them, which is three less than his total against every other MLB team this season. Clase had a sensational regular season with a league-low ERA of 0.61 in 74 innings, led MLB with 47 saves, and struck out 66 batters.
Tommy Kahnle was given the ball in the ninth to get the save, despite throwing 26 pitches the night before. Kahnle stayed with his changeup and didn’t throw any other pitches, working around a walk and a bloop single to secure an 8-6 win for the Yankees.
The right-hander recorded his second career postseason save, with his last one also coming against the Guardians in the 2017 ALDS.
THE @YANKEES ARE ONE WIN AWAY FROM THE #WORLDSERIES pic.twitter.com/1TstgO3r3U
— MLB (@MLB) October 19, 2024
Once the dust settled, the Yankees found themselves with a commanding 3-1 series lead and one win away from going to their first World Series since 2009.
“Feels like nothing until we get it done,” said Stanton following the ALDS Game 4 win. “As far as I’m concerned, we haven’t done nothing,”
Game 5 ALCS
New York will try to make their dream a reality with Cuban-American left-hander Carlos Rodón (16-9, 3.96 ERA) facing off against right-handed pitcher Tanner Bibee (12-8, 3.47 ERA).
On Saturday night, October 19, Game 5 of the ALCS will start at 8.08 PM ET at Progressive Field (TBS).
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