The Yankees are on the brink of a World Series after the latest Emanuel Claes meltdown

CLEVELAND — On Friday afternoon, when asked where Game 3 of the ALCS ranked for him in light of its late drama, general manager Brian Cashman spoke bluntly.

“S-titter,” Cashman said.

So the Yankees did the only reasonable thing and flushed it, even as Game 4 came close to joining Game 3 as another epic gut punch.

24 hours after suffering a devastating loss in 10 innings, the Yankees picked themselves up and hung on for dear life for an 8-6 win over the Guardians at Progressive Field on Friday night.

After their taxed bullpen jumped out to a 6-2 lead, the Yankees rallied for two runs in the ninth against Emmanuel Claes before Tommy Kahnle pitched the final three outs to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead in the ALCS, one win away. from advancing to their first World Series since 2009.

On a night when Luke Weaver and Clay Holmes gave up two-run homers in the ninth and 10th innings, the Yankees' bullpen had to record 15 outs and barely make it there.

Anthony Rizzo, who dropped a flip from Mark Leiter Jr. in the bottom of the eighth inning that allowed the tying run to score, led off the top of the ninth with a single off Claes and a pinch run for Jon Barty.

Anthony Volpe roped a single the other way to put runners on the corners.

One out later, Alex Verdugo hit a squibber to shortstop that Brian Rocheo couldn't handle cleanly, even though Barty was going to score from third for a 7-6 lead.

Gleyber Torres then delivered an RBI single for some extra breathing room as the Yankees got back to class.

Giancarlo Stanton's three-run shot in the sixth inning put the Yankees up 6-2, and the lead slowly slipped away.

The Guardians scored three runs in the seventh inning off Jake Cousins ​​and Holmes before an eighth-inning shutout by Leiter, who was added to the roster earlier in the day as an injury replacement for Ian Hamilton.

Leiter got two big outs to end the seventh inning with the lead intact but then gave up a leadoff double to Bo Naylor in the eighth.

He got the next two batters in order and looked like he was going to escape the jam when he got David Fry to hit one back to the right side of the mound.

But Leiter booted it, chased after the ball and flipped it to Rizzo, who couldn't catch it as the ball went through his legs, allowing Naylor to score the tying run.

After Lewis Gill went four innings of two-run ball in his first start in nearly three weeks, Tim Hill worked a scoreless fifth and Cousins ​​did the same in the sixth.

But Cousins ​​came back in the seventh inning and walked No. 9 hitter Rocchio before Steven Kwan put runners on the corners.

Boone then called on Holmes, who gave up the game-winning home run to Frye in the 10th inning Thursday night and was pitching for the fourth time in five days Friday.

Holmes struck out Frye in a rematch but then gave up back-to-back doubles to Jose Ramirez and Naylor to bring the Guardians within 6-5.

After Holmes walked Lane Thomas to advance to base, he was relieved by Leiter, whose third pitch to Jonkensie Noel — who drilled Weaver's game-tying home run off Weaver in the ninth inning of Game 3 — looked like it was left again. Headed to the field bleachers.

But it died on the caution track and fell into Alex Verdugo's glove for the second out before the pitcher struck out Andres Gimenez and sent him into the eighth.

A two-run shot by Juan Soto in the first inning and a solo homer by Austin Wells in the second gave the Yankees a 3-1 lead, and the Guardians pulled within 3-2 of Gill.