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ALCS Game 5: Juan Soto lifts Yankees past Guardians with HR in 10th inning to secure World Series trip

Posted on by Kennedy
ALCS Game 5: Juan Soto lifts Yankees past Guardians with HR in 10th inning to secure World Series trip

Thanks to a great shot from Juan Soto in extra innings, the New York Yankees are back in the World Series for the first time in more than a decade.

The Yankees battled the Cleveland Guardians 5-2 in extra innings in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series on Saturday night at Progressive Field. It is the Yankees' first AL pennant since 2009.

The Yankees will now face either the Los Angeles Dodgers or the New York Mets in the World Series. The Dodgers lead the Mets 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Sunday night in the National League Championship Series.

The Guardians' season ended after the club posted its deepest postseason success since 2016, losing to the Chicago Cubs in the World Series.

After both teams ended the ninth inning tied 2-2, Soto came up big for the Yankees, securing the three-run win. Soto drilled a long shot past Hunter Gaddis to stun the Guardians and give them the lead for the first time on Saturday.

The shot was the first extra-inning home run in a decisive postseason win for the Yankees since Aaron Boone hit in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS to defeat the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees lost the World Series that year to the Florida Marlins.

After Soto's shot, the Yankees ended the bottom of the inning with three quick outs.

The Naylor brothers put the Guardians on first in the second inning after narrowly escaping a potentially disastrous opening inning as the Yankees loaded the bases before Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee got them out. Josh Naylor got on base with a quick single, and then Bo Naylor hit him with a double down the right field line.

Cleveland extended its lead in the fifth after Steven Kwan hit an RBI single to center.

But as he has done several times in this series, Giancarlo Stanton came through just in time for the Yankees. Stanton hit a powerful home run early in the sixth that tied the game at 2-2. It was his fourth home run of the ALCS.

That was it until Soto sealed the win for the Yankees in the 10th.

The last time the Yankees appeared in the World Series, they defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in six games, marking the franchise's 27th title. Since then, they have been to the ALCS five times before this fall, most recently in 2022 when they were defeated by the Houston Astros. Their American League title is the 41st in team history.

Game 1 of the World Series begins Friday regardless of how the Mets-Dodgers series ends.

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  • And this will probably be mentioned a lot tonight, but just to note: Juan Soto is on the verge of becoming a man of history. He may not get Shohei Ohtani's $700 million, but a $500 million contract with no deferrals is probably worth even more when accounting for inflation.

  • Whatever happens in the NLCS, Rob Manfred and the rest of the MLB league office should already be celebrating. You get either a Yankees-Dodgers World Series, pitting your two premier franchises against each other with the MVPs of both leagues, or another all-New York World Series.

    Be that as it may, the ticket price for the 2024 World Series is $300 million.

  • FINAL: Yankees 5, Guardians 2

    The New York Yankees win the pennant thanks to a home run by Juan Soto in extra inning. The Yankees made one of the biggest moves of the offseason by trading the young slugger even though he had only had control of the team for a year, but we can now call this a lucrative rental.

    The Yankees will play in the World Series for the first time since their last title in 2009. Sometimes – one might even say often – Goliath wins.

  • José Ramírez hits one deep in the middle, but it dies before the warning track. Two down.

  • The Guardians get a baserunner on a single by Kyle Manzardo. I just need one more to bring the bond to the plate.

  • Steven Kwan singled Luke Weaver for the first time in the bottom of the 10th inning.

  • Some slow motion of the Soto homer.

  • What happened on that Soto home run? Well, Hunter Gaddis started with three straight sliders, then two changeups and then another slider. Then, in the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Gaddis tried to sneak in a high fastball after Soto fouled out three consecutive 1-2 pitches.

    According to Baseball Savant, Soto had a .335 batting average and a .714 slugging percentage on fastballs this season, with even better peripherals. Soto typically approaches the bat by chasing pitches, and he wanted a fastball.

  • Aaron Judge struck out to end the inning. The Guardians have three outs to score three runs or the Yankees win the pennant.

  • Juan Soto with a 3-run home run

    Juan Soto goes deep! That's a three-run home run 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.

  • The Guardians could have scored two goals there, but Rocchio dropped the ball on second down. So the Yankees now have runners on first and second, with just a single out in the tenth.

  • End 9: Yankees 2, Guardians 2

    Luke Weaver gets the Yankees out in the bottom of the ninth, so we go to extra innings in Cleveland.

  • Middle 9: Yankees 2, Guardians 2

    Emmanuel Clase did the job. Although Chisholm hit a two-out single, Rocchio tagged him out to second on a Cabrera groundball and ended the inning without allowing a run.

    The Guardians now have a chance to end this in game nine.

  • End 8: Yankees 2, Guardians 2

    Jake Cousins ​​strikes out Noel and the Yankees make it out of the eighth inning. That's 4 strikeouts for him tonight and we go to the ninth, still tied.

    Clase will now take the mound for Cleveland.

  • Jake Cousins ​​struck out two for the Yankees, but narrowly missed Josh Naylor in the eighth. Noel now has a chance to blow this game up again.

  • Middle 8: Yankees 2, Guardians 2

    That was a 1-2-3 inning for the Guardians, and Jose Ramirez will now have to start the bottom half.

  • End 7: Yankees 2, Guardians 2

    And there is another Double play, this time by Oswaldo Cabrera, who took advantage of a Kwan ground ball that went right to him.

    The Yankees ended the inning after making a pitching change – Cousins ​​came in to replace Hill – to keep the game tied.

  • Middle 7: Yankees 2, Guardians 2

    Rocchio just ended the inning with a double play for Cleveland – it was the third straight double play to end an inning – and the Guardians made it out of the seventh.

  • The Guardians pull Cade Smith with one out and one on here in the seventh. Herrin will come into the game now and try to get Cleveland out of the inning without giving up a run.

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