Guardians tie series; Phils grab 2-1 lead
NEW YORK – Oscar Gonzalez singled in the go-ahead run with Cleveland’s second straight bloop hit in the 10th inning, and the Guardians overcame a two-run deficit to beat the New York Yankees 4-2 Friday and even their best-of-five AL Division Series at one game apiece.
José Ramírez led off the 10th against Jameson Taillon with an opposite-field popup that dropped 200 feet from home plate, just in front of left fielder Oswaldo Cabrera for a double. Ramírez hustled all the way and slid into third headfirst when third baseman Josh Donaldson threw the ball past second for an error.
Gonzalez, whose 15th-inning homer Saturday completed a first-round sweep of Tampa Bay in the wild-card round, followed with a 59 mph, 164-foot opposite-field flare into short right off Taillon, who made his first big league relief appearance after 143 starts. Josh Naylor added an RBI double that bounced on a hop off the wall in right-center.
Winner Emmanuel Clase pitched 21⁄3 innings, his most in the major leagues, and combined with Trevor Stephan and Karinchak for 41⁄3 innings of one-hit relief as Cleveland stopped a six-game postseason losing streak to the Yankees.
Clase retired Kyle Higashioka on a lineout to Ramírez for the final out of the eighth after James Karinchak walked the bases loaded. Clase threw 33 pitches, 10 more than his season high.
“It was preparing mentally and remembering when I was a starter in the minor leagues and try to do the same thing,” Clase said through a translator.
Guardians relievers have thrown 172⁄3 scoreless innings this season.
Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer in the first inning, and Cleveland tied the score against All-Star Nestor Cortes when Andrés Giménez had an RBI single in the fourth and Amed Rosario homered in the fifth.
Aaron Judge went 0 for 5 with four strikeouts and dropped to 0 for 8 with seven strikeouts and a walk in the series. Fresh off setting the AL home run record with 62, he was booed by some fans in the sellout crowd of 47,355 after whiffing against Stephan in the seventh.
Judge is 2 for 37 with 27 strikeouts against
Cleveland in three playoff series, including all four of his four-strikeout postseason games.
“It’s the Bronx, man,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Great hitters go 0-for on a given day.”
Phillies 9, Braves 1
Rhys Hoskins burst out of his postseason malaise with a three-run homer and spiked his bat in triumph and Bryce Harper hit a tworun shot, helping host Philadelphia rout Atlanta and take a 2-1 lead in the NL Division Series.
The Phillies and a sellout crowd of 45,538 fans waited 11 mostly miserable years – 4,025 days, to be exact – to host a playoff game again at Citizens Bank Park.
Phillies fans should save the rally towels – the Phillies played like a team that wants to keep Red October alive
The bats erupted in a six-run third inning that will forever be stamped on a Philly sports highlight reel. Bryson Stott got the rally going with an RBI double off Braves rookie Spencer Strider. Kyle Schwarber drew an intentional walk to set the stage for Hoskins.
Hoskins, mired in a 1-for-19 postseason slump, crushed a 94 mph fastball into the left field seats for a 4-0 lead. Hoskins raised his arms in celebration, slammed his bat into the grass and he skipped his way to first base.
The exit velocity? It took about 2 seconds for Harper to bounce out of the dugout and toss his helmet in the air. Hoskins leapt into a violent elbow forearm exchange – think, Bash Brothers – with Stott as he crossed the plate.