Yankees fall to Guardians on David Fry's walk-off two-run homer in 10th inning of Game 3 after coming within an out of taking a 3-0 ALCS lead

CLEVELAND — The Yankees have had more success here than any other visiting team since Progressive Field (formerly Jacobs Field) opened in 1994.

But they’ve taken their share of crushing postseason losses in this ballpark, too.

Put Thursday night’s 7-5, 10-inning loss to the Guardians in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series right near the top of that list, if not the top.

After Aaron Judge hit one of the more dramatic playoff homers in recent franchise history — a tying two-out, two-run blast off Emmanuel Clase in the eighth — and Giancarlo Stanton followed that with a go-ahead home run, Luke Weaver allowed a shocking two-out, two-run homer in the ninth by pinch hitter Jhonkensy Noel and Clay Holmes gave up a two-out, two-run homer in the 10th by David Fry that got the Guardians back in the series.

“A loss is a loss,” Judge said. “If we would have got blown out here, it’s the same as that, same result. It’s 2-1 now. Can’t dwell on it, can’t mope, can’t hang our head. Still have a lot of ballgames to play. Refocus on the next game.”

The Yankees, who took a 5-3 lead with a run in the ninth, were one out (and then one strike) away from grabbing a three-games-to-none lead in the series. Instead, the suddenly confident Guardians will try to tie the series on Friday night, with rookie Luis Gil starting for the Yankees.

Weaver had been terrific this postseason, and, really, since taking over for Holmes as the closer in early September.

After defensive replacement Anthony Rizzo committed an error on Jose Ramirez’s grounder to start the ninth, Weaver got Josh Naylor to hit into a 1-6-3 double play.

Afterward, Weaver regretted the 1-and-0 changeup Noel destroyed halfway up the bleachers in left, a 404-foot shot on a pitch the righthander called his “worst” of the night.

Weaver had even more regrets about the full-count, 95-mph fastball the preceding batter, Lane Thomas, whacked off the top of the wall in left-center to keep the inning going. Weaver had gotten ahead 0-and-2 on Thomas.

“One pitch away,” Weaver said of a 3-0 series lead if he had finished off Thomas. “Really felt like I let the team down there, let myself down . . . I obviously know the at-bat before Noel’s with Thomas is the deciding factor. To me, if you’re 0-2, you’ve got to be able to get him out there. It allows the moment to get big.”

It became huge when Noel homered. As he rounded the bases, he was congratulated by first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr., who hit a famous tying homer off Mariano Rivera in 1997 with the Yankees on the brink of clinching that postseason series. Cleveland wound up advancing.

After the Yankees stranded a runner at second in the top of the 10th, Bo Naylor led off the bottom half with a sharp single to right. He went to second on Brayan Rocchio’s sacrifice bunt and to third on Steven Kwan’s comebacker to Holmes (who would have had a play at third had he chosen to throw there). Fry then hammered a 399-foot shot into the bleachers in left to win it. It came on a 1-and-2, 96-mph sinker (Judge and Stanton also homered on 1-and-2 pitches).

“Probably just got a little quick there with the sinker and threw it to the one spot I couldn’t throw it,” said Holmes, who had not allowed a run in his six previous outings this postseason. “If it’s a good sinker down and away, down below the zone, I mean really down, it’s probably a more favorable outcome. But I just got quick and put it in a spot where it didn’t need to go.”

The Yankees had mostly sleepwalked offensively entering the eighth, trailing 3-1 and with only three hits to that point. Cleveland had deployed three of its four elite bullpen arms, with the third of those, righty Hunter Gaddis, quickly retiring pinch hitter Austin Wells and Gleyber Torres to start the inning.

Juan Soto then worked a four-pitch walk, and that set up Judge against Clase.

After the centerfielder’s 356-foot line drive over the rightfield wall, which sucked most of the energy from what had been a roaring crowd and had Yankees players pouring out of their dugout on the first-base side, Stanton hit his third homer of the postseason, driving a 390-foot shot to right-center for a 4-3 lead.

Torres’ sacrifice fly gave the Yankees a 5-3 lead in the ninth to give Weaver . . . not enough of a cushion.

“Just a great game top to bottom,” said Clarke Schmidt, who allowed two runs — on a two-run homer by Kyle Manzardo in the third inning that gave Cleveland its first lead of the series at 2-1 — five hits and two walks in 4 2⁄3 innings.

“Guys in this locker room just showing continuous fight, answering punch after punch. Obviously, they got the final punch tonight.”