In what turned out to be an instant postseason classic, the Cleveland Guardians walked off the New York Yankees in dramatic fashion and took Game 3 of the American League Championship Series 7-5 in extra innings.
It was a back-and-forth affair that had the Yankees scoring first in the second inning, the Guardians flipping the scoreboard in the third with a two-run home run by Kyle Manzardo, and back-to-back blasts by Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton in the ninth against Emmanuel Clase (!) to turn the tides and give the Yanks a 4-3 lead in the eighth.
That, however, was far from it.
New York added another run in the ninth, but the Guardians showed the same heart they have showcased all year to this point.
The Yankees had them with two outs and no one on in the bottom of the ninth, but Lane Thomas hit a long double and that set up the most important at-bat in the Guardians season to this point: pinch-hitter Jhonkensy Noel against Yanks’ closer Luke Weaver.
Noel sat on a Weaver changeup and, against all odds, sent it to the moon for a game-tying two-run home run that turned Progressive Field into a frenzy.
Big Christmas' game-tying homer via NTT #BallparkCam 👀@CleGuardians | #GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/l0MotnxDmP
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) October 18, 2024
Cleveland would win it an inning later, in the bottom of the tenth, with another two-run homer this time courtesy of All-Star utilityman David Fry.
Perfect. pic.twitter.com/WD6RfUF6wH
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) October 18, 2024
From the eighth inning on, it was probably the best game of the 2024 playoffs and there have been some classics this year.
After being one out shy of falling into a 0-3 hole, the Guardians fought back and are now down 2-1 with the fourth starters coming up on Friday: Luis Gil and Gavin Williams.
We have ourselves a series.
NEXT: Analyst Has A Strong Belief About Guardians In Game 3 Of ALCS
