Soto blast in 10th sends Yankees to World Series

CLEVELAND — Juan Soto hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning and the New York Yankees advanced to their 41st World Series — and first in 15 years — by beating the Cleveland Guardians 5-2 in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series on Saturday night.

Baseball’s biggest brand is going back to October’s main stage.

Soto, who was acquired in a seven-player trade with San Diego in December, moved the Bronx Bombers into position with one big swing against Hunter Gaddis.

“I was all over it, I was all over it,” Soto told TBS of the decisive at-bat. “That was the only thing I was thinking. I was just saying to myself, ‘You’re all over that guy. You’re all over that guy.’ … I just had to make good contact, and I did.”

It was the second extra-inning home run in a potential series-clinching game in Yankees postseason history. The other was by Aaron Boone, the team’s current manager, in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS against the Boston Red Sox.

The Yankees will try to win their 28th title against either the New York Mets or Los Angeles Dodgers. Game 6 of the National League Championship Series is on Sunday at Dodger Stadium.

“We’re right where we belong,” said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, who pulled off the deal for Soto.

In the 10th, Austin Wells walked with one out and Alex Verdugo followed with a grounder to second baseman Andres Gimenez, whose soft toss to the bag was dropped by rookie shortstop Brayan Rocchio for an error.

Gaddis struck out Gleyber Torres and had Soto in a 1-2 count before New York’s stylish outfielder sent a shot over the wall in center. Soto danced down the first-base line and paused to celebrate with his teammates before circling the bases.

Soto is eligible for free agency this winter, and Yankees fans chanted “Re-sign Soto!” during the postgame festivities.

ALCS MVP Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer for the Yankees, who took care of the Guardians in five games, but it wasn’t easy.

New York won the first two at Yankee Stadium without much fanfare or any major drama. But it was a different story in Cleveland as all three games at Progressive Field were nail-biters.

The Guardians rallied to win Game 3 on two, two-run homers in their last two at-bats, and the Yankees held on to win Game 4 after blowing a four-run lead.

“This was a roller coaster and we were able to just keep punching back,” Stanton said. “We know there’s much more work to do and it’s only uphill from here and we got to get it done.”

Cleveland just didn’t have enough and a surprising season under first-year manager Stephen Vogt ended just short of a World Series. The franchise remains without a title since 1948, baseball’s current longest drought.

The Yankees are back in the World Series, a place where their fans expect them to be every year.

The club’s 82-80, fourth-place finish in the AL East last season led to some “soul searching as an organization” during the winter, according to Boone, who has been widely criticized but is one of just three managers to take New York to playoffs in six of his first seven seasons.

Though the team’s core stayed mostly intact, getting Soto in a blockbuster trade on Dec. 7 — New York sent five players to San Diego for the three-time All-Star outfielder — accelerated a return to being a title contender.

“That was a good day,” Boone said with a laugh before the game.

Stanton’s 446-foot rocket into the left-field bleachers tied it at 2-2 in the sixth and chased Tanner Bibee, who had struck out New York’s dangerous designated hitter in his first two at-bats and held the Yankees scoreless for the first five innings.

It was Stanton’s fourth homer in this series — his third in three days — and his 16th in the postseason, moving him into fourth place on the club’s career list behind Bernie Williams (22), Derek Jeter (20) and Mickey Mantle (18).

Before the game, Boone was asked what makes Stanton so good.

“He can hit it harder than anyone, first of all,” Boone said. “So there’s the physical nature of what he does that’s different than just about everyone in the world.”

But Boone went on to compliment Stanton’s discipline at the plate, “his approach, his process, how he studies guys.”

“There’s something that he does when he gets familiarity with people on top of being very physically gifted,” Boone said.

The Guardians took a 2-0 lead in the fifth off Carlos Rodon on Steven Kwan’s RBI single with two outs. But Cleveland missed a big chance for more, leaving the bases loaded when Lane Thomas grounded out on the first pitch to him from Mark Leiter Jr.

Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.