Down to their final out and on the verge of a 0-3 series hole, the Cleveland Guardians stunned the New York Yankees with two dramatic pinch-hit home runs.
Jhonkensy Noel and David Fry provided the power to win Game 3 of the American League Championship Series 7-5 in an instant classic on Thursday night in Cleveland. With the victory, the Guardians cut the series deficit to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
New York seemed poised to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series when Yankees captain Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton hit back-to-back home runs off Guardians All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase in the top of the eighth inning for a 4-3 lead.
Considered one of the best closers in baseball, Clase finished the regular season with a 0.61 ERA after only allowing two home runs and five earned runs in 74.1 innings pitched.
Cleveland threatened in the bottom of the eighth inning, getting runners on first and second base when Yankees skipper Aaron Boone opted to turn to closer Luke Weaver for a four-out save. Weaver extinguished the danger by striking Fry out.
After getting an insurance run by the Yankees offense for a 5-3 lead, Weaver returned in the ninth inning, eyeing a fifth save opportunity in the postseason.
Despite overcoming a fielding error by Anthony Rizzo that allowed a runner on base, by inducing the next batter to ground into a double play, Weaver still needed one more out.
That’s when things unraveled for New York.
Facing a Yankees closer that had been nearly unhittable all postseason, Cleveland did the unthinkable and tied the game on a pinch-hit, two-run home run by the rookie Noel, playfully known as “Big Christmas,” to force extra innings.
Judging by the home fans reaction to the blast, it looked like a holiday.
The gifts kept coming for the home team.
In the bottom of the 10th inning, Guardians postseason hero David Fry blasted a two-run walk-off home run to give the Guardians life and a Game 3 victory.
During Game 4 of the AL Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, Fry hit a go-ahead home run that helped even the series, which the Guardians would eventually win.
“When everybody thinks we can’t do it, we think we can. Manzo hits a huge homer early. I still don’t know how Jhonkensy hit a homer off that guy, that was such a cool at bat. What a win. Matt Boyd was so good, that was fun,” Fry told the TBS broadcast after the game.
“We got a lot more to do though, but it was fun tonight.”
Thursday night’s victory gives the Guardians a glimmer of hope in the series. Teams that win Game 3 after falling behind 2-0 in a seven-game postseason series have gone on to win the series 14 of 51 times, including four of 21 times in an LCS.
“Sucks losing like that, obviously, but kind of a classic game. We’ll be ready to roll tomorrow,” Boone said after the game.
“That was an amazing game to witness. Playoff baseball, both sides just kept coming with haymakers and big at-bats. … They outlasted us tonight.”
The Guardians will aim to even up the series in Game 4 on Friday at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
Cleveland hasn’t won a World Series since 1948, marking the longest active title drought in Major League Baseball.