Yankees drop Game 2 vs. Guardians in 10 innings

The seeming inevitability of another Yankees-Astros American League Championship Series took a hit Friday afternoon when the Yankees didn’t get nearly enough of them in a 4-2 loss in 10 innings to the Guardians and their pop-gun offense in Game 2 of their ALDS in front of 47,535 at the Stadium. 

“We never thought this was going to be easy,” Aaron Boone said. “We'll get on that plane and go and try and grab one tomorrow. Nothing changes for us. We never expected any of this this time of year to be easy, and nothing's been easy for us this year, especially in the second half of the season.”

The best-of-five series, which is tied at 1-1, will continue Saturday night in Cleveland at what is sure to be a raucous Progressive Field, where the Yankees are 69-43 (.616), the highest winning percentage at that ballpark by any opposing AL team. 

But the Yankees will have to do far better offensively in Cleveland than they did Friday, as they failed to score   in the final nine innings. After Gleyber Torres' two-out single and  Giancarlo Stanton’s two-run homer to rightfield in the first inning, they went 4-for-32. They drew seven walks but went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11, striking out 15 times.

“Good starting rotation, great bullpen, they’ve got nasty stuff down there. We had our opportunities to cash in a couple more runs, especially early with [Shane] Bieber, we had him on the ropes a couple of times, but he went out there and executed his pitches,” said Judge, who went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts and heard some rare Stadium boos after striking out in the seventh.

“It’s the Bronx, man,” Boone said of the reaction to a player who set the American League record with his 62nd home run 10 days earlier.

Said Judge with a smile: “It happens. I gotta play better, That’s what it comes down to.”   

With Jameson Taillon  making his first career relief appearance to begin the 10th inning, Jose Ramirez led off with a flare to short left that landed in front of a hard-charging Oswaldo Cabrera. Josh Donaldson, who also went after the pop-up, picked up the ball and fired wildly to second, with the error allowing Ramirez to take third.

“Tried to make a play and Jose Ramirez does what he does. He kept running,” Donaldson said. “I think it would have been bang-bang, even if I made a really good throw. In the moment, I thought I had a chance. Didn’t make a great throw. At the end of the day, I was trying to make a play and I’ll live with that.”

 With the infield in, Oscar Gonzalez blooped a single to right in front of Judge  to make it 3-2. When centerfielder Harrison Bader lost Josh Naylor’s low line drive to center in the sun and took an incorrect route, the ball sailed over his head for an RBI double that made it 4-2.

The Yankees had their chances early and late.  

Stanton walked with one out in the eighth against righty James Karinchak, pinch runner Tim Locastro stole second and Donaldson walked. On a 3-and-2 pitch, Cabrera struck out on a 97-mph fastball above the strike zone, but Isiah Kiner-Falefa,  drew a walk to load the bases. In came righthander Emmanuel Clase, the league’s top closer, to face Kyle Higashioka, who lined out to third on an 0-and-2 pitch. 

Clase, who posted a 1.36 ERA this season, pitched a scoreless ninth and walked Donaldson with one out in the 10th. He then struck out Cabrera and got Kiner-Falefa to ground to second. 

Cortes, the best and most consistent member of the Yankees'  rotation this season — going 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA — allowed two runs, six hits and three walks in five innings in which he struck out three. 

Bieber,  who went 13-8 with a 2.88 ERA, allowed two runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out seven. 

Andres Gimenez had a two-out RBI single in the fourth and Amed Rosario hit a 416-foot homer into the Yankees' bullpen in the fifth to tie it at 2-2.

"You know, that's a good team over there,” Boone said of the Guardians, who won 24 of their last 30 games to capture the weak AL Central at 92-70. “They can run pitchers out there. They have got their ace on the mound today on a day where it's tough to hit. They run good guys out of the pen. So we just couldn't break through today.”