David Frye, JonKenzie Noel's Parents' Wild Game 3 ALCS Comeback Yankees: Takeaways

By Tyler Kepner, Chris Kirschner, Brendan Kuty and Zack Meisel

cleveland – Down to their final out and facing a three-games-to-none deficit to the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series, the Cleveland Guardians exploded for a 7-5 victory in 10 thrilling innings at Progressive Field on Thursday.

David Fry was the ultimate hero on a packed night for the Guardians, who now trail two games to one. After JonKenzie Noel tied Luke Weaver with a two-out, two-run shot in one inning, Frye sent a chilly crowd of 32,531 at Clay Holmes into a frenzy.

“Amazing game to witness,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “That was playoff baseball. Both sides just kept coming up with straws.”

Trailing by two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, with the bases empty and two outs, the Guardians rallied with a Lane Thomas double off the high wall in deep left-center. Manager Stephen Vogt sent Noel to bat for Daniel Snyman and got exactly what he wanted: a no-doubt, game-tying rocket into the left-field bleachers.

It was the first blown save in five playoff chances for Weaver, who has appeared in seven of the Yankees' postseason games. It followed a stunning failure by the Guardians' closer, Emmanuel Claes, who surrendered back-to-back homers to lose the lead in the eighth — first to Aaron Judge, who tied the game, then to Giancarlo Stanton, who put the Yankees ahead. , 4-3.

After Noel tied it up in the ninth, Pedro Avila struck out Anthony Volpe to put two runners on in the top of the 10th. Bo Naylor greeted Holmes with a single in the bottom of the inning, and after a bunt and a ground out, Frye launched a 1-2 sinker 399 feet into the left field bleachers for the victory.

Christmas is coming soon

The Guardians got their final out, but after the Yankees' pair of hulking sluggers unloaded on Cleveland's top relievers, the Guardians had time to respond to the edge rusher-sized masher. Noel hacked into an 88-mph changeup, quickly dropped his bat, put his head down and began the most memorable trot of his career. The two-run blast came up the middle of the left-field bleachers and rescued the Guardians from a heartbreaking loss.

Noel was promoted to the majors in June and uncorked a home run to center in his first career at-bat in Baltimore. For most of the summer, he used some useful right arm muscles. In September, however, Noel went 6-for-51 with no home runs, 18 strikeouts and a .363 OPS. Before his ninth-inning moonshot, he was 1-for-15 in the postseason. But the 6-foot-3, 250-pound slugger, nicknamed “Big Christmas” by his manager, always poses a power threat, and he unloads at opportune times for Cleveland.

Stanton, Judge Turn the Tide

When the Yankees traded for Giancarlo Stanton in December 2017, they envisioned pairing him with Aaron Judge and the duo leading them to a World Series.

Nearly seven years later, they may have fulfilled that dream on Thursday night.

Judge's two-run home run in the eighth inning tied the game at 3-3 and came against reliever Emmanuel Claes, who might be the best closer in baseball. That seemed like the team's high-water mark until Stanton crushed a solo shot in the next at-bat to give the Yankees the lead.

For Judge, it was his second home run in as many games, and his second of the season. It was Stanton's third homer in the playoffs.

Judge's homer came over the outside of the plate at 99.2 mph, and he smashed it into right field at 109.9 mph, the ball climbing just 356 feet over the wall. The Yankees' dugout erupted when he rounded first base.

Stanton ended a seven-pitch at-bat with a home run to right-center field, blasting it 106.1 mph and 390 feet. After Stanton crossed home plate, Cleveland issued a challenge: They asked the umpires to make sure Stanton's foot actually touched first base when he rounded the bases. It didn't work.

Stanton — the majors' active home run leader, with 429 — is hitting .308 with a 1.131 OPS in the playoffs, performing as the best version of himself when the Yankees need him most.

It was an epic momentum shift. At one point, the Yankees went 13 batters without reaching base and rallied against Cleveland's most feared pitcher.

Clase's nightmare postseason continues

Cleveland's closer allowed five earned runs and two home runs in 74 1/3 innings during the regular season. He was tagged for six earned runs and three home runs in six innings during the postseason. Judge and Stanton took him deep and changed the course of the ALCS in a span of eight pitches in Game 3.

The Guardian's script revealed exactly how they envisioned it. Matthew Boyd, somehow their most consistent starter even though he joined their organization a few months ago recovering from elbow surgery, pitched another five sharp innings, the longest outing by a Cleveland starter in October. Cade Smith breezed through the heart of the Yankees' order on 10 pitches. Tim Herrin and Hunter Gaddis recorded five outs, setting the stage for Klass' four-out save against the Yankees' behemoths.

Gaddis hit a two-run blast off Judge in Game 2, and Claes suffered the same fate in Game 3. Stanton drove a 90-mph slider over the center-field wall. It was the first time Klass allowed multiple homers in an outing.

Hamilton's departure could be cause for concern

Yankees reliever Ian Hamilton, who last pitched 10 days ago in Game 2 of the American League Division Series, left Thursday's game after facing two batters. He walked Lane Thomas to start the sixth inning and then induced a ground ball from Daniel Snyman, forcing him to cover first base on a bang-bang play.

After Hamilton threw a warmup pitch after playing in the backstop, manager Aaron Boone and a trainer requested that he be tested. He was then pulled from the game with left cuff tightness.

The righty reliever missed nearly three months of the regular season with a lat injury and suffered a minor setback in his rehab assignment with back spasms.

If Hamilton is forced off the roster, Mark Leiter Jr. will likely replace him in the ALCS. Boone said earlier in the series that Leiter would have been included if the Yankees had carried 13 pitchers.

The Yankees have indicated that Luke Weaver, Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle and Tim Hill are their four most reliable relievers, with Hamilton at the top of the latter grouping. With the Yankees scheduled to play Friday and Saturday, they may need all the depth in their bullpen.

(Top photo by David Fry: Jason Miller/Getty Images)