Three takeaways from Yankees' 7-5, 10-inning loss to Guardians in Game 3

CLEVELAND

1. The Yankees did not sound like a defeated team afterward.

This was about as tough a loss as a team can absorb in the postseason. The Yankees were one strike away from a three-games-to-none lead in the ALCS, but they were resolute afterward about their ability to “flush” the setback and be ready for Friday night’s Game 4. “A loss is a loss, whether it’s a clean one, if we lost 3-1 or what have you,” Giancarlo Stanton said. “This one obviously stings a bit more, but at the end of the day, an L’s an L. Tomorrow’s a new day. You’ve got to get it done.” Said Anthony Rizzo: “You give credit to Cleveland. They didn’t quit there. It’s tough to be on this side of it, but we’ll bounce back tomorrow and get ready to win a game.”

2. Looking for a positive?

The Yankees did hit  Emmanuel Clase. The Cleveland closer,  a pitcher Stanton called “a generational talent,” had one of the best regular seasons any reliever has ever had, posting a 0.61 ERA. When he came in to face Aaron Judge with a runner on base and two outs in the eighth with Cleveland leading 3-1, a feeling of inevitability was palpable among the crowd. Judge punctured that with his tying line-drive homer to right, on a 1-and-2, 99-mph cutter, and Stanton completely let the air out of the building with a home run to center on another 1-and-2 pitch, giving the Yankees a 4-3 lead. The Yankees, of course, would prefer not to see Clase again in the series, but if they do, both they and Clase very much will remember Thursday night’s eighth inning. That’s not nothing.

3. Offense continues to be an issue.

The Guardians started lefthander Matthew Boyd with somewhat low expectations but, after allowing a second-inning run, he quickly settled in, retiring the last 10 he faced. He allowed one run, two hits and three walks in five innings, turning things over to Cleveland’s world-class bullpen, which controlled the Yankees until the Judge-Stanton power show in the eighth. The Yankees may have out-thought themselves, replacing the lefty-swinging Rizzo at first base with Jon Berti and slumping  catcher Austin Wells  (2-for-26 with 12 strikeouts in the postseason) with Jose Trevino. And while the latter did contribute an RBI single, the Guardians also easily stole three bases off him. Trevino's throwing arm hasn’t been the same since he underwent wrist surgery in 2023, and the opposing teams who can run — and Cleveland is in that category — know it. Regardless, it was another night in which the offense was too quiet overall, the case in a four-game ALDS win over the Royals and mostly the case in the first three games of this series. They have drawn 45 walks in seven postseason games but are 51-for-223 (.229).