The New York Yankees lost Game 3 of the ALCS to the Cleveland Guardians 7-5 in extra innings. The game featured four game-tying or g-ahead homers with two outs in the eighth inning or later. Jhonkensy Noel hit the one that tied the game in the ninth off of Yankees’ closer Luke Weaver. After blowing his first save of the postseason, Weaver expressed his disappointment, per Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.
“Just really felt like I let the team down there, myself down,” the Yankees’ closer said. “It’s baseball. Things like that happen. A twist of an arm, and it just feels a little devastating.”
The loss was only the Yankees’ second of the postseason and the first save Weaver has blown all year long. While things are still slanted New York’s way after three games, there’s no doubt the Guardians have momentum. The Royals were not able to figure out Weaver but in three games, the Guardians have two home runs off the closer.
Weaver is not the only closer who floundered on Thursday. Emmanuel Clase has not carried his fantastic regular season into the postseason and Aaron Judge took advantage. He smoked a 99 MPH cutter over the wall to tie the game at three in the eighth inning. Giancarlo Stanton followed him into the crowd to take the lead.
Yankees’ question marks re-emerging after Game 3
Related New York Yankees NewsArticle continues below
Despite being the top seed in the American League, things were far from perfect for the Yankees this season. They entered the postseason with a few massive question marks and some of them showed up in Game 3. One was the bullpen, as Clay Holmes tied the record for blown saves in the regular season. He gave up the game-winning home run to David Fry in the tenth inning. Despite his first five appearances being excellent, fans are still nervous about Holmes.
Weaver was far from a question mark, as he was tremendous at the end of the season. He did not give up an earned run after September 2. The converted starter had no experience pitching every day, however, and that has bitten them this week. He will need a day off in this series to reset his rest for the stretch run.
Anthony Rizzo broke his fingers in the final series of the season and missed the ALDS. Who the first baseman would be was a big question and Jon Berti rose to the occasion. He struggled in Game 3 and when Rizzo came in as a defensive replacement, he had two balls uncharacteristically sneak by him.
Christopher Hennessy is an MLB associate editor at ClutchPoints, with additional expertise in the NHL and golf. He graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022, and he has work experience at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders reporter.
