After 15 long years of waiting, it’s finally here. The New York Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians in the American League National Series within five games and will now advance to the World Series to play against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The series was filled with clutch moments from key Yankee players such as Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. Giancarlo Stanton, in particular, delivered a notable performance and earned the ALCS MVP after their game-five victory in Cleveland. Stanton had four home runs and seven RBIs during his ALCS at-bats, with a 1.222 OPS according to Major League Baseball.
The Yankees dominated game one with an ending score of 5-2. Soto hit a fly ball into center field for a home run and the first run scored of the game. New York also capitalized off of Cleveland’s several wild pitches throughout the game, allowing two runs to score in the third inning off of these errors.
In the fourth inning, Judge hit a sacrifice fly to allow Gleyber Torres to run in and score. The Guardians came back in the sixth inning with a home run from Brayan Rocchio, but Stanton came right back in the seventh inning with a home run into deep left-center field. Despite an RBI single from Steven Kwan in the eighth inning, the Guardians were unable to come back after a flawless close from Yankees pitcher Luke Weaver.
The Yankees brought home another win in game two after a 6-3 game against the Guardians. Once again, the Yankees capitalized on errors made by the Guardians, which would become a prevalent theme throughout the series. Immediately in the first inning, Judge reached first base after a dropped pop-up from Brayan Rocchio, allowing Gleyber Torres to score the first run of the game.
After RBIs from Alex Verdugo and Judge, the score remained 3-0 in the bottom of the second. At the top of the fifth inning, Cleveland made progress with a sac fly from Josh Naylor, allowing a run to score. Will Brennan also grounded into a force out with the bases loaded, allowing another run to be scored.
The Yankees didn’t let the shrinking lead affect their play. In the sixth inning, Anthony Rizzo doubled on a line drive and allowed Anthony Volpe to score after a fielding error from Brennan. To secure the growing lead, Judge hit his first home run of the ALCS in the bottom of the seventh. The two-run homer brought the score to 6-2 in favor of the Yankees.
Despite a solo home run from Jose Ramierez at the top of the ninth inning, the Yankees clutched their second win of the series.
Game three brought the Yankee’s only loss of the series after an exciting game that led into a walk-off win for Cleveland. New York scored the first run of the game after Jose Trevino hit an RBI single that allowed Volpe to score. The Guardians scored two runs in the second inning, and the Yankees were unable to come back until the eighth when Judge and Stanton both hit home runs.
In the ninth inning, New York thought they had the win secured when Gleyber Torres brought the score to 5-3 after hitting a sac fly into center field which gave Volpe the opportunity to score another run.
The game went back-and-forth between the teams the whole game, which ended up in a tie at the bottom of the ninth inning after Luke Weaver gave up a two-run homer to Jhonkensy Noel. The Guardians secured the walk-off win after David Fry hit a two-run homer off of pitcher Clay Holmes in the bottom of the tenth.
Games four and five also brought intense wins for the Yankees. In game four, the Yankees won 8-6 and saw notable performances from Soto and Stanton. Soto delivered a two-run homer at the top of the first inning to put the Yankees on the board.
The second inning also saw a one-run home run from Austin Wells, who has been struggling at the plate during the ALCS.
At the top of the sixth inning, Stanton crushed a fly ball to left-center field, scoring another three runs for the Yankees.
Once again, the Guardians made a field error in the ninth inning allowing Jon Berti to score. Later in the inning, Torres hit an RBI single as Volpe ran home for the eighth run of the game.
In game five, the dreams of millions of Yankee fans came true. Tied 2-2 in the top of the tenth inning, Soto hit a three-run homer to bring the score to 5-2. Closing pitcher Luke Weaver brought home the win after a pop-up to Soto for the final out. Thanks to these terrific players, the Yankees will go to the World Series for the first time in 15 years.
The Yankees will play the first game of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, Oct. 25.
bkeatin1@rampo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @yankees, Instagram
