Yankees squander lead, bounce back to take 3-1 advantage over Cleveland in ALCS

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The New York Yankees can breathe a sigh of relief, for now at least.

After squandering a four-run lead Friday night, the Yankees rallied against the best closer in the game for an 8-6 win over the Cleveland Guardians to take a 3-1 lead in the American League Championship Series.

The game seemed all but over when Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton continued his October dominance with a three-run home run in the sixth inning to put the Bronx Bombers ahead, 6-2.

It was anything but over, though.

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New York Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres (25) runs after hitting an RBI single in the ninth inning against the Cleveland Guardians during game four of the ALCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Progressive Field.  (David Dermer-Imagn Images)

The Guardians put runners on the corners with none out in the seventh, prompting Aaron Boone to go with Clay Holmes a little over 24 hours after he allowed the walk-off home run in Game 3. It again didn’t go well, as three runs came across thanks to back-to-back doubles from Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor. 

Mark Leiter Jr. entered the game and cleaned up the mess, but in the eighth, the Game 3 hero, David Fry, tied it with a slow dribbler that neither Leiter nor Anthony Rizzo could handle.

With a save situation nonexistent for Cleveland, they brought in Emmanuel Clase, whose postseason woes continued. The Yankees put runners on second and third to start the inning, and Alex Verdugo and Gleyber Torres then each delivered an RBI single. 

Clase now has eight earned runs this postseason after allowing just five in the entire regular season.

Giancarlo Stanton #27