Yankees general manager Brian Cashman praises Giancarlo Stanton's clubhouse presence

CLEVELAND — For the second straight game in this American League Championship Series, the Yankees went with another option at cleanup instead of Austin Wells, who had occupied the spot during most of the last two months.

Jazz Chisholm batted fourth in Game 4, but for Saturday night’s Game 5, they opted for their best hitter in this postseason: Giancarlo Stanton.

Good move. Stanton’s 446-foot two-run homer with two outs in the sixth inning tied the score at 2-2, and the Yankees went on to beat the Guardians in 10 innings, 5-2, on Juan Soto’s three-run shot.

Stanton, named MVP of the ALCS, is 10-for-34 (.294) with five homers, 11 RBIs, five walks and a 1.179 OPS in nine games. Four of his homers came in the five games of the ALCS, including key blasts in Games 3, 4 and 5.

The man who traded for Stanton before the 2018 season, general manager Brian Cashman, said he hasn’t been surprised by his outburst. Stanton’s ability to slug a baseball has always been a part of his game. Stanton, after all, was named the National League MVP in 2017 after hitting 59 home runs.

What has surprised Cashman to a degree is how influential, in a positive way, Stanton has been in the clubhouse. And it didn’t just start this season, or this postseason, despite the attention it currently is getting. Almost from the time Stanton arrived for his first spring training with the team, he’s been an admired, lead-by-example clubhouse presence, with the word “reverence” from some of his younger teammates — and even some of his veteran ones — not too strong a word to describe how they feel.

“We knew we were getting a guy who was extremely talented, a Hall of Fame-caliber power hitter that was a really good person,” Cashman said before Game 5. “But you don’t know what they [will be] in New York, when you’re dealing with New York. So now what we know is we have a very thoughtful, accountable leader that obviously rises to the occasion, especially in October. He’s proven that he’s got a lot more than we realized when we acquired him. We knew we were getting a difference-maker bat-wise, but we also got a difference-maker in that clubhouse, too.”

Cortes looking good

Lefthander Nestor Cortes, who suffered a flexor strain in his left elbow Sept. 25 and has not been available during the ALDS or ALCS, threw a live batting practice session here Saturday afternoon and appears in line to be added to the roster now that the Yankees have reached the World Series.

Before Saturday’s game, Aaron Boone said Cortes “probably” will throw another live BP early this week. “If that goes well,’’ he said, “probably would feel good about him being in play for us [in the World Series].”