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The Yankees lost when Aaron Judge homered. They lost when a Judge homer had seemingly eased the whole team’s mounting tension and defibrillated the offense.
They lost when they were about to put themselves one more win away from yet another ALCS showdown against the Astros.
The Judge homer felt like a lucky charm. But the Guardians’ offense is relentless in a jab, jab, jab kind of way. And the Yankees’ spate of relief injuries finally manifested when Clarke Schmidt — not someone inside Aaron Boone’s ever-shrinking circle of bullpen trust — had the ball in his hand and perhaps the Yankees’ season on the line.
Because the Guardians’ rally completed against Schmidt in the ninth inning brought Cleveland a 6-5 triumph. After their 10-inning win in The Bronx on Friday, the Guardians are now leading this Division Series two games to one. Gerrit Cole, on normal rest, will try to save the Yankees’ season on Sunday to get this best-of-five back to New York for a decisive game Monday night.
The Yankees led 5-3 going to the ninth inning. But Wandy Peralta was still pitching. He had gotten the last out in the seventh inning. He went 1-2-3 in the eighth. And now he was back out in the ninth. No Clay Holmes, who had pitched in each of the first two games like Peralta. And like Jonathan Loaisiga, who also had appeared in Game 3.
The absence of Scott Effross and Michael King and Chad Green and Ron Marinaccio was evident in this usage.
And when a Myles Straw blooper fell in front of a lunging Oswaldo Cabrera in left with one out and Steven Kwan followed with a single, Boone signaled for Schmidt.
