2024 American League Championship Series

2024 American League Championship Series

New York Yankees 94 - 68 in the AL	0 - 0 Series Summary	Cleveland Guardians 92 - 69 in the AL

Overview[edit]

The Teams[edit]

Managers: Yankees: Aaron Boone | Guardians: Stephen Vogt

Yankees

Guardians

Umpires[edit]

Mike Estabrook, Dan Iassogna (crew chief), Chris Segal, Alan Porter, Jansen Visconti and Vic Carapazza

Gabe Morales served as the reserve umpire for Game 1, then integrated the umpire rotation

Series results[edit]

Game	Score	Date	Starters	Time (ET)
1	Cleveland Guardians 2 New York Yankees 5	October 14	Alex Cobb (0-1) Carlos Rodón (1-0)	7:37 pm
2	Cleveland Guardians 3 New York Yankees 6	October 15	Tanner Bibee (0-1) Gerrit Cole (0-0)	7:37 pm
3	New York Yankees 5 Cleveland Guardians 7	October 17	Clarke Schmidt (0-0) Matthew Boyd (0-0)	5:08 pm
4	New York Yankees 0 Cleveland Guardians 0	October 18	Luis Gil (0-0) Gavin Williams (0-0)	8:08 pm
5	New York Yankees 0 Cleveland Guardians 0	October 19	Carlos Rodón (1-0) tba	8:08 pm

Results[edit]

Game 1 @ New Yankee Stadium[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Guardians	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	6	0
Yankees	0	0	3	1	0	0	1	0	x	5	6	1
WP: Carlos Rodón (1-0); LP: Alex Cobb (0-1); SV: Luke Weaver (1)
Home Runs: NY - Juan Soto (1), Giancarlo Stanton (1); CLE - Brayan Rocchio (1)

Attendance: 47,264

The ALCS opened with the Yankees hosting the Guardians on a chilly evening at New Yankee Stadium. For the Yankees, Anthony Rizzo was back as the starter at first base after missing the previous round, and Carlos Rodón was on the mound. He had a strong start and contrary to his previous postseason start against the Kansas City Royals in the Division Series, he did not fade after a couple of strong innings, allowing just one run on three hits in six innings to put his team on solid ground to win. The same could not be said of Alex Cobb, who once again had an abbreviated start, and one in which the bases were always full of traffic. He was unable to complete the 3rd inning, leaving the bases loaded for rookie Joey Cantillo, who not only did not get out of the jam, but compounded it with his wildness. In hindsight, manager Stephen Vogt should probably have asked a more experienced reliever to finish the inning, and brought in Cantillo at a later point, starting with a clean slate. The 3rd inning proved to be the difference maker, as the Guardians never could make up the three-run deficit that resulted.

The Guardians left a runner in scoring position in the 1st, after a single by David Fry and a passed ball by C Austin Wells, while the Yankees' first two batters in the bottom of the inning both hit singles. However, Cobb retired the next three batters, including a key strikeout of Aaron Judge, and the Yankees could not score either. Both teams left at least a runner on base in the 2nd as well - two in the Yankees' case as Rizzo and Alex Verdugo both singled with two outs, but Gleyber Torres was unable to drive them in. In the 3rd Rodón retired the Guardians in order for the first time, but Juan Soto led off the bottom of the frame with a solo homer to center field. In Three True Outcomes fashion, Cobb then walked Judge, struck out Wells, and walked Stanton. Jazz Chisholm hit a fly ball to center for the second out, but Cobb then walked Volpe to load the bases. That's when Cantillo came in, and his control was clearly off. A first wild pitch got past catcher Bo Naylor and a run scored. Cantillo then walked Rizzo, filling up the bases once again, and then threw another wild pitch, making it 3-0. He finally struck out Verdugo, who swung at a pitch well out of the strike zone, to end the inning, but the Yankees had a comfortable three-run lead while getting just one hit in the fateful inning.

Cantillo continued to struggle in the 4th, with a lead-off walk to Torres followed by two more wild pitches, that placed him on third base. Soto walked as well, and Cantillo was replaced by Pedro Avila, who had just been added to the roster before the series. Judge hit a sacrifice fly to center to make it 4-0, but Avila retired the next two batters, limiting the damage. Meanwhile, Rodón was cruising, retiring 11 straight batters between the 2nd and the end of the 5th. In the top of the 6th, however, the Guardians stirred when Brayan Rocchio homered to left field to lead off the inning, cutting the Yankees' lead to 4-1. However, Rodón retired the next three batters, and then turned the ball over to the bullpen for the start of the 7th. Meanwhile, Erik Sabrowski had replaced Avila in the 6th, striking out Soto to end the inning, but after two outs in the 7th, he allowed a homer to Giancarlo Stanton, who hit a scorching line drive that cleared the center field fence in a hurry. The lead was now 5-1, but the Guardians had one more rally in them - although it fell short. Lefty Tim Hill took over for Holmes in the 8th and gave up a one-out single to Andres Gimenez followed by a single by Rocchio. On the play, Hill had gone to cover first base, then stood by the bag, right in Rocchio's way, blocking him as he was making his turn. First base umpire Dan Iassogna called Hill for obstruction, a call that was confirmed in a huddle with his colleagues after Aaron Boone objected, and Cleveland had runners on second and third base. Steven Kwan followed with a single to left, scoring Gimenez, and there were still two men on. Out went Hill, in came closer Luke Weaver, while Vogt asked Will Brennan to pinch-hit for Fry. But Brennan struck out and José Ramírez hit a grounder to second, and that was the end of Cleveland's best chance to get back in the game. Neither team managed to score in its final turn at bat, and the game ended on a 5-2 score in favor of New York.

Game 2 @ New Yankee Stadium[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Guardians	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	3	8	2
Yankees	1	2	0	0	0	1	2	0	x	6	11	0
WP: Clay Holmes (1-0); LP: Tanner Bibee (0-1)
Home Runs: NY - Aaron Judge (1); CLE - José Ramírez (1)

Attendance: 47,054

The Yankees used the same formula they had tried with success in Game 1 to win Game 2, putting a lot of pressure on Cleveland's starter, who in this game was Tanner Bibee, and chasing him early. However, the Guardians were successful in putting a large number of runners on base against Gerrit Cole, and eventually chased him as well before the end of the 5th. Cashing in those runners was an issue, however, as their batters went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and stranded a total of 11 men on base, while the two runs they scored to come back within one both came on outs. The Yankees then padded their lead over the next two innings against a succession of relievers, with a two-run homer by Aaron Judge off Hunter Gaddis in the 7th proving to be a crushing blow as they won the game, 6-3.

Cole got off to a good start, retiring the Guardians in order in the 1st, but Bibee was in trouble from the first batter he faced, Gleyber Torres, who opened the bottom of the 1st with a double to left. Juan Soto followed with a single that placed runners on the corners, and it was déjà vu all over again at New Yankee Stadium, for anyone who had watched the previous day's game. Judge was next up, still looking for his first big hit of the postseason, and he hit what looked like a routine pop-up just above second base. SS Brayan Rocchio moved to get under it, then stuck out his glove, only to see the ball bounce off it and into short right field for an error. Torres scored, Soto moved to second and Judge was safe as the Yankees threatened to put up crooked numbers. This time, Bibee was able to recover, but he had to work hard, striking out Austin Wells, then benefitting from a great sliding catch by RF Will Brennan who caught Giancarlo Stanton's fly ball in foul territory, and finally striking out Jazz Chisholm to end the inning. Josh Naylor broke out of a slump with a single off Cole to lead off the 2nd, but he was stranded there, and the Yankees were right back at it in the bottom of the inning. Once again, the first two batters reached, on singles by Anthony Volpe and Anthony Rizzo, and Alex Verdugo followed with a double down the left field line that made it 2-0. Bibee got Torres to pop up, then issued an intentional walk to Soto in order to face Judge. Except that he wouldn't be the one doing the facing, as by then Cade Smith had had time to warm up and was ready to enter the game. It was only the third time in Judge's career that the opposing team had issued an intentional walk to the batter preceding him, but the Guardians sort of made the strategy work as he only hit a sacrifice fly to center. It was now 3-0, but when Smith struck out the struggling Wells to end the inning, the Guardians had escaped the possibility of being completely out of the game after just two innings.

It was going to be another long night for the Guardians' bullpen, but the first few relievers they used, starting with Smith, did a good job, keeping the Yankees from padding their lead long enough for Cleveland to mount a comeback. Getting runners on base against Cole was not the issue - they got a hit and a walk in the 3rd and two singles and a walk in the 4th - but pushing those runners across was a much harder task. Stephen Vogt even decided to use David Fry as a pinch-hitter for C Bo Naylor with the bases loaded and one out in the 4th, but in a key moment of the game, Cole got him to pop up to third and then struck out Rocchio. A side result of that decision was that Vogt then put Austin Hedges in to catch, with no possibility of hitting for him if he ever came up in a critical situation later in the game. In the 5th, the Guardians once again put multiple runners on base, on singles by Steven Kwan and Kyle Manzardo and a walk to José Ramírez. With the bases loaded and no one out, the Guardians absolutely had to do some damage, or else they might as well go home. Josh Naylor drove in a first run with a sacrifice fly, with Manzardo advancing to third. In a bold move, Ramírez stole second and Cole walked Lane Thomas, loading the bases again. That finished his night's work, as he had allowed six hits and four walks in just 4 1/3 innings; it was just the Guardians' inability to get a hit with men on base that had saved him from a bloated ERA. Aaron Boone turned to one of his best relievers, recognizing that this was a key situation, and Clay Holmes managed to extinguish the flames. He got Brennan on a force out which scored Manzardo to bring the Guardians within one, then seemed to deliberately pitch around Andres Gimenez, walking him to face Hedges, the weakest hitter in the line-up by a country mile. He got Hedges to strike out swinging, and the inning ended with the Yankees somehow still in the lead, 3-2.

Eli Morgan retired the Yankees in order in the bottom of the 5th, and one could feel the game's momentum switching, but all those runners left on base by Cleveland would eventually bite them. The Yankees had to get some innings from some of their lesser relievers, before they could bring closer Luke Weaver into the game, and Tim Hill had a good inning in the 6th, retiring the Guardians in order. Rookie Erik Sabrowski then came in for Cleveland, but he allowed a lead-off double to Chisholm and walked Volpe. In what could have been a game-saving play, Sabrowski then managed to pick off Chisholm at second for the first out, but Rizzo followed with a double to right and when Brennan bobbled the ball while trying to pick it up with his bare hand, Volpe ran home and scored, to make it 4-2. Sabrowski then got Volpe on a shallow fly ball and gave way to Pedro Avila. One of his pitches to Torres bounced in front of home plate but was blocked by Hedges, who then caught Rizzo in no man's land between second and third base. The rundown was not pretty (it went 2-4-5-4-5) but Rizzo was tagged for the third out. Were it not for two baserunning mistakes, the Yankees could have put the game away in that inning, but then again were it not for Brennan's error, it could still have been 3-2. The killing blow came in the next inning however. With Gaddis now on the mound, Torres singled and after one out Judge finally did what the Yankees' fans had been waiting for since the start of the postseason: he hit a big fly to center field that landed for a two-run homer. It was now 6-2, and there was no coming back from that. The Yankees did use Weaver in the 9th, even with a four-run lead, and he gave up a solo homer to Ramirez, but the win was never in danger. With a final score of 6-3, the two teams headed to Cleveland with New York holding a two-games-to-none lead.

Game 3 @ Progressive Field[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Yankees	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	0	5	6	1
Guardians	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	2	2	7	11	1
WP: Pedro Avila (1-0); LP: Clay Holmes (1-1)
Home Runs: CLE - Kyle Manzardo (1), Jhonkensy Noel (1), David Fry (1); NY - Aaron Judge (2), Giancarlo Stanton (2)

Attendance: 32,531

Game 3 turned out to be a spectacular affair with plenty of late-game drama, with no less than four dramatic home runs in the final three innings; it was also the first game of that year's postseason to require extra innings. The Yankees made a major change to their line-up before the game, giving C Austin Wells, who was struggling at the plate, a rest, with the red-hot Giancarlo Stanton taking his place as the clean-up hitter, and Jose Trevino getting his first start behind the plate. For Cleveland, which had received almost no offensive production from either its right fielders or catchers, Daniel Schneemann was getting his first start in right field, and Austin Hedges was starting in place of Bo Naylor behind the plate.

Matthew Boyd started for Cleveland and, apparently not having learned from watching previous postseason games featuring the Yankees, walked Gleyber Torres to start things off. He got out of the inning without allowing a run, even though he also walked Stanton with two outs, but he used a lot pitches, and it looked certain that it would be another abbreviated start if he kept this up. Clarke Schmidt also made things interesting in the bottom of the inning, as he walked lead-off man Steven Kwan then allowed a weak single to Kyle Manzardo. But he also managed to escape without allowing a run. In the 2nd, however, Anthony Volpe walked with one out, then Alex Verdugo doubled and Trevino singled to make it 1-0 for the Yankees. However, Boyd managed to pick off Trevino at first base, and even though the lumbering catcher tried to prolong the rundown, Verdugo did not attempt to score from third base on the play, and the inning ended when Torres lined out to Kwan in left field. It should have been a bigger inning for New York.

Schmidt made quick work of the Guardians in the bottom of the 2nd, and Boyd found his groove in his second turn through the Yankees' order, retiring all nine men in turn starting with Torres to end the 2nd; he also got Torres to ground out to end the 5th, therefore completing five innings with just one run allowed. He was doing so well that Stephen Vogt could have been tempted to give him another inning of work, but he decided to go with Cade Smith in the 6th, grateful for the unexpected gift of obtaining 15 outs from his starter. By then, Cleveland had a 2-1 lead, as in the 3rd, a single by Brayan Rocchio and a homer by Manzardo had led to two runs. The Guardians continued to put at least one runner in scoring position in the next two innings, with Hedges hitting a double in the 4th, and José Ramírez doing so in the 5th. That hit led to Schmidt's replacement by Tim Hill, who got Josh Naylor to fly out to end the inning. Smith pitched a perfect 6th, confirming that he was the team's most effective reliever since the start of the postseason, and against Ian Hamilton in the bottom of the 6th, Cleveland finally managed to cash in a runner. Lane Thomas led off with a walk and reached second on a ground out by Schneemann. Thomas then stole third base and scored on a single by Andres Gimenez, breaking the Guardians' string of futility with runners on base, although they weren't able to score Gimenez, who died on third base, in the words of George Moriarty. That 3-1 lead lasted until the 8th.

Hunter Gaddis was on the mound for the Guardians in the 8th, with six outs left to go. He retired the first two batters but then got cute when Soto came up, not throwing him a single pitch near the strike zone, in a situation where the worst Soto could have done was hit a solo homer that would not even have tied the score. Gaddis probably knew that Emmanuel Clase was warming up, and he would not be the one to face Aaron Judge with a runner on base. Clase had been superhuman during the regular season, but the Detroit Tigers had found a few chinks in his armor in the previous round, and this time he was beaten silly. First, Judge tied the game with a blistering line drive to the opposite field that cleared the fence in right field, then Stanton followed by hitting one beyond the fence in center field. Suddenly the 3-1 lead had turned into a 4-3 deficit. There was eerie silence in Progressive Field. In the bottom of the inning, pinch-hitter Will Brennan managed to pull a ball just under the glove of 1B Anthony Rizzo, who had ironically just entered the game for defensive purposes, then with two outs, Kwan walked to put a second runner on base. Aaron Boone decided to bring in his closer early, just as Vogt had done, replacing Tommy Kahnle with Luke Weaver. The strategy worked a lot better for him that it had for Vogt, as Weaver struck out David Fry. Things were about to get even worse for Cleveland, however. In the 9th, Volpe drew a lead-off walk against Eli Morgan, then Verdugo hit a scorching ground ball towards Gimenez at second base. Volpe was running on the pitch and thinking the ball was going to get through to right field, turned towards third, not realizing that Gimenez had stopped the ball. Volpe was caught in a rundown, but Cleveland completely botched it, with Ramirez throwing the ball back to second base too quickly, and when the ball was relayed back to him, he dropped it while attempting to tag Volpe. Everyone was safe, and after a strikeout of Wells, who had replaced Trevino an inning earlier, Torres hit a long fly ball to center and Volpe scored easily.

With that the Guardians were down to their last three outs, having managed to turn a 3-1 lead into a 5-3 deficit, and facing Weaver who had been impeccable the entire postseason. It looked a certainty that they would be down three games to none in a few minutes. Ramirez managed to reach first base on an error by Rizzo, who misplayed a routine grounder, but he was immediately erased when Josh Naylor hit a ball back to Weaver, who calmly started a double play. The Guardians' last hope was Thomas, and he kept them alive with a double to center. Vogt then brought in Jhonkensy Noel as a pinch-hitter for Schneemann and the big man stunned everyone by absolutely crushing one of Weaver's pitches far into the left-field stands for a game-tying homer. Pedro Avila then managed to keep the Yankees from scoring in the top of the 10th, stranding a pair of runners who had both reached via walks, and Clay Holmes was the next man to pitch for the Yankees. He was greeted by a single by Bo Naylor, who advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Rocchio. Kwan moved him to third with a ground ball back to Holmes. Fry was up again in a key situation, needing just a single to win the game; he did better than that, unloading a walk-off homer to left field to end a spectacular game on a 7-5 score.