Cleveland Yankees Overcome Guardians in Overtime Thriller

CLEVELAND — This season, the Yankees hadn’t managed to win a single overtime game, yet Cody Bellinger stepped up to the plate, finding himself in crucial situations about as often as half the team during home games.

Bellinger showed he could face the challenges the team had been grappling with, especially in the absence of Aaron Judge, and nearly all of their bullpen.

With one out in the 10th inning, Bellinger hit a crucial single that brought in Trent Grisham, the automatic runner, along with Ben Rice, who helped force an intentional walk from the Guardians. This effort secured a 7-5 win for the Yankees in a game that stretched nearly four hours long. Notably, the Yankees now have one win and three losses in overtime situations.

Bellinger had entered the game sporting a 1.140 OPS at Yankee Stadium, but only a .591 OPS on the road. However, he didn’t let those inconsistent stats hinder him; he managed to connect with Sean Armstrong’s fastball, clocked at 95 mph.

The Yankees exhausted their bench and used almost every arm in the bullpen. David Bednar, the seventh reliever, came in to secure the last five outs, including three crucial consecutive strikeouts.

Paul Goldschmidt kicked things off with a two-run home run in the first and tied the game with a fielder’s choice RBI in the eighth. The Yankees showed resilience, hitting three singles during a rally, but it was a particularly impressive double play that helped them regain the lead.

In a standout defensive moment, shortstop Brayan Rocchio managed to execute a knee catch on a grounder, tagging the base and throwing to first while still on one knee. The effort caught Jazz Chisholm Jr. by surprise, who initially was set to snag the throw.

Meanwhile, at Madison Square Garden, Knicks fans were buzzing during the pregame introductions of Game 3 in the NBA Finals, while fireworks lit up the sky for 29,517 fans at Progressive Field, a mere 463 miles away.

In the sixth inning, with no outs and a runner on first, Angel Martinez hit a go-ahead two-run homer, putting the Guardians ahead 5-4.

The Guardians had erased a 3-0 deficit in the third, scoring three runs aided by some sloppy play by Jose Caballero, who mishandled a ball that had ricocheted off pitcher Will Warren’s foot.

Warren managed to make it through just 4¹/₃ innings on 91 pitches, prompting manager Aaron Boone to strategize the remaining portions of the game.

In the fifth, Ryan McMahon hit a line drive home run just over the 19-foot wall, which was initially called a double but overturned upon review, further stirring up the fans. As McMahon completed his trot, enthusiastic Yankees fans created a ruckus, drowning out the boos from Guardians supporters.

This was the second time in six days that the Yankees managed to hit two home runs off Cy Young candidate Gavin Williams. In their previous meeting, they had only allowed three runs over 5 1/3 innings, but this time they couldn’t quite reach six runs.

In the seventh inning, Anthony Volpe stepped in to pinch-hit for the left-handed pitcher Tim Herrin, instead of McMahon, which ended up placing the winning runner on first base in the ninth.

Cade Smith, touted as the best reliever in the AL, struck out Volpe but also gave up a leadoff single shortly after.

The most pivotal outs from the stream of Yankees relievers came from left-handers Ryan Yarbrough and Tim Hill, but the Guardians’ right-handed slugger Jose Ramirez made things tough, hitting triples in both the sixth and eighth innings, leaving two runners stranded each time.

Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that the Yankees had made their way to the 2024 World Series thanks to remarkable home runs from players like Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Juan Soto, all of whom were missing from the lineup on Monday for various reasons, including injuries and player movements.