Thanks to a huge shot from Juan Soto in extra innings, the New York Yankees are heading to the World Series for the first time in more than a decade.
The Yankees rallied back to beat the Cleveland Guardians 5-2 in extra innings in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series on Saturday night at Progressive Field in Ohio. That officially gave them the 4-1 series win and secured what will be their first trip to the World Series since 2009.
The Yankees will now take on either the Los Angeles Dodgers or New York Mets in the World Series. The Dodgers hold a 3-2 series lead over the Mets ahead of Sunday night’s Game 6 in the National League Championship Series. The Guardians’ season, on the other hand, is now over. Cleveland was in the midst of its deepest postseason run since 2016, when they fell to the Chicago Cubs in the World Series.
After both teams made it out of the ninth inning still locked up 2-2, it was Soto who came up big for the Yankees to close out the three-run win. Soto drilled a deep shot off Hunter Gaddis to stun the Guardians and suddenly put them up in the lead for the first time all game.
The shot was the first extra-inning home run in a postseason series-clinching win for the Yankees since Aaron Boone hit one in Game 7 of the ALCS in 2003. The Yankees lost the World Series that year to the Florida Marlins.
From there, the Yankees closed out the bottom of the inning with three quick outs to seal their win and secure the World Series trip.
The Naylor brothers put the Guardians on the board first in the second after they barely escaped what could’ve been a disastrous opening inning — when the Yankees loaded up the bases before Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee got them out of it. Josh Naylor got on base with a quick single, and then Bo Naylor hit him in with a perfect double up the right field line. Cleveland extended its lead in the fifth, too, after Steven Kwan hit an RBI single to center.
But, like he has repeatedly in this series, Giancarlo Stanton came through just in time for the Yankees. Stanton drilled a deep home run in the top of the sixth that suddenly tied the game up. It marked his fourth home run of the ALCS.
That, though, was it until Soto sealed the win for the Yankees in the 10th.
The Yankees are now headed to the World Series for the first time since 2009. They beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 in that series, which marked the franchise’s 27th title. They’ve been to the ALCS five times since then before this fall, most recently in 2022 when they were swept by the Houston Astros. Their American League title is the 41st in team history.
Game 1 of the World Series, regardless of how the Mets-Dodgers series ends, will start on Friday.
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And this will probably be mentioned many times tonight, but just to note here: Juan Soto is about to be a historically rich man. He might not get Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million, but a $500 million contract with no deferrals is probably worth even more when accounting for inflation.
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Whatever happens in the NLCS, Rob Manfred and the rest of the MLB league office should already be celebrating. You either get a Yankees-Dodgers World Series, pitting your two premier franchises featuring the MVPs of both leagues, or another all-New York World Series.
No matter what, the 2024 World Series has a $300 million price of admission.
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FINAL: Yankees 5, Guardians 2
The New York Yankees win the pennant, courtesy of an extra-innings homer from Juan Soto. The Yankees made one of the biggest moves of the offseason by trading for the young slugger despite only one year of team control, but we can now call that a lucrative rental.
The Yankees will play in the World Series for the first time since their title in 2009. Sometimes — you could even say oftentimes — Goliath wins.
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José Ramírez hits one deep to center, but it dies before the warning track. Two down.
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The Guardians get a baserunner on a Kyle Manzardo single. Just need one more to get the tying run to the plate.
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Steven Kwan grounds out against Luke Weaver for the first out of the bottom of the 10th inning.
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Some slo-mo of the Soto homer.
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What happened on that Soto home run? Well, Hunter Gaddis started him off with three straight sliders, then two changeups, then another slider, then, on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, tried to sneak in a high fastball after Soto fouled off three straight 1-2 pitches.
Per Baseball Savant, Soto had a .335 batting average and .714 slugging percentage on fastballs this season, with even better peripherals. Soto usually approaches at-bats by hunting pitches and he wanted a fastball.
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Aaron Judge strikes out to end the inning. The Guardians have three outs to score three runs or the Yankees will win the pennant.
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Juan Soto goes deep! That’s a 3-run homer for the Yankees star, and they’re suddenly up 5-2 in the 10th.
The Yankees are now on the cusp of their first World Series trip since 2009.
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The Guardians could’ve turned two there, but Rocchio dropped the ball at second. So the Yankees have runners on first and second now with just a single out in the 10th.
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End 9: Yankees 2, Guardians 2
Luke Weaver gets the Yankees out of the bottom of the ninth, so let’s go to extra innings in Cleveland.
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Mid-9: Yankees 2, Guardians 2
Emmanuel Clase got the job done. Though Chisholm hit a two-out single, Rocchio tagged him out at second after a Cabrera ground ball to end the inning without allowing a run.
The Guardians have a chance to end this now in the ninth.
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End 8: Yankees 2, Guardians 2
Jake Cousins struck out Noel, and the Yankees make it out of the eighth inning. That’s 4 strikeouts for him tonight, and we’ll head to the ninth still tied up.
Clase will take the mound now for Cleveland.
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Jake Cousins struck out two for the Yankees, but he just walked Josh Naylor in the eighth. Noel is up now with a chance to blow this game open yet again.
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Mid-8: Yankees 2, Guardians 2
That was a 1-2-3 inning for the Guardians, and Jose Ramirez is now due up to start the bottom half.
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End 7: Yankees 2, Guardians 2
And there’s another double play, this time by Oswaldo Cabrera, who took advantage of a Kwan ground ball hit right to him.
The Yankees closed out the inning after making a pitching change — Cousins came in to replace Hill — to keep the game tied.
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Mid-7: Yankees 2, Guardians 2
Rocchio just ended the inning with a double play for Cleveland — it was the third consecutive double play to end an inning — and the Guardians made it out of the seventh.
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The Guardians are pulling Cade Smith with one out and one on here in the seventh. Herrin will come in now to try to get Cleveland out of the inning without giving up a run.
