Everything went Cleveland's way on Jose Ramirez's leadoff bloop double in 10th

When Jose Ramirez’s ball went up in the air toward shallow leftfield in the top of the 10th inning on Friday afternoon, you might have thought, “Harmless fly ball.”

But the Yankees were shifted around to the right against the switch hitter, who was batting lefthanded against Jameson Taillon.

Four Yankees ended up touching the ball. A fifth almost did. But Ramirez still ended up on third base and went on to score the go-ahead run as the Guardians beat the Yankees, 4-2, in 10 innings to tie the AL Division Series at one game apiece.

What happened on Ramirez’s leadoff flare, which left the bat at 76.3 mph?

“I haven't re-looked at the play,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.  

Wise decision. It was not pretty.

There wasn’t much the Yankees could do initially. Oswaldo Cabrera raced in from deep left-center. Third baseman Josh Donaldson raced out from the shortstop area.

“It was in the perfect spot,”  shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa said. For Cleveland, that is.

Said Taillon, who was making his first career relief appearance after 143 starts: “Good placement there.”

Cabrera, who was playing his 11th big-league game in leftfield (all this season), tried to make a backhanded catch while sliding. The ball bounced off his glove and right to Donaldson, who spun and threw to second in an attempt to get Ramirez. The throw was wide and skipped past Gleyber Torres, who bumped into second-base umpire Will Little while trying to go for it.  

Ramirez, seeing the errant throw, rounded second and headed for third. The ball went right to Anthony Rizzo on the outfield grass. He fired to third, where Kiner-Falefa was covering, but Ramirez slid in safely.

“We tried to get that ball,” Cabrera said. “I tried to get that ball. That’s just baseball.”

The Yankees brought the infield in and Oscar Gonzalez hit a go-ahead bloop single to right (58.9 mph off the bat) that was so shallow that Rizzo, not rightfielder Aaron Judge, was the one who retrieved it off the grass. It probably didn’t disturb a single blade.

The Guardians noted that Ramirez would not have made it to third if he hadn’t hustled the second the ball left his bat.

“It's no secret how aggressive he is on the bases and the standard that he sets,” Gonzalez said. "He's a good example to follow and he always tells me that: ‘Play hard, because you never know what can happen.’ ”

What happened next was an RBI double to deep center by Josh Naylor that made it 4-2. Harrison Bader lost the ball  in the sun and took a bad route to the drive — he went sideways instead of back — but it might not have mattered because the first hard-hit ball off Taillon was smoked at 108.5 mph.

That was it for Taillon, who was the losing pitcher in his first postseason appearance.  

“It’s difficult, especially in the playoffs,” he said. “The results are all that matters.”  

Boone seemed hell-bent on getting Taillon into this series in relief. He was warming when Clay Holmes closed out the Yankees’ 4-1 Game 1 win on Tuesday. On Friday, Taillon was chosen for the 10th over Clarke Schmidt and Domingo German, starters who have bullpen experience, and relievers Miguel Castro and Lucas Luetge. After Taillon failed to get an out, Schmidt picked up three grounders to get out of the inning — too late.

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.