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 ended after the club made its deepest postseason run since 2016, when it fell to the Chicago Cubs in the World Series.
After both teams made it out of the ninth inning still locked up 2-2, Soto 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 put them in the lead for the first time Saturday.
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 to defeat the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees lost the World Series that year to the Florida Marlins.
After Soto’s shot, the Yankees closed out the bottom of the inning with three quick outs.
The Naylor brothers put the Guardians on the board first in the second inning after they barely escaped what could’ve been a disastrous opening inning when the Yankees loaded 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 double up the right-field line.
Cleveland extended its lead in the fifth 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 tied the game, 2-2. It marked 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 were in the World Series they beat the Philadelphia Phillies in six games, marking 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 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.
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.
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 his having 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 last title in 2009. Sometimes — you could even say often times — Goliath wins.
José Ramírez hits one deep to center, but it dies before the warning track. Two down.
The Guardians get a baserunner on a Kyle Manzardo single. Just need one more to get the tying run to the plate.
Steven Kwan grounds out against Luke Weaver for the first out of the bottom of the 10th inning.
Some slo-mo of the Soto homer.
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, Gaddis tried to sneak in a high fastball after Soto had 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.
Aaron Judge strikes out to end the inning. The Guardians have three outs to score three runs, or the Yankees will win the pennant.
Juan Soto with a 3-run home run
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
