CLEVELAND — Aaron Judge finally delivered the kind of postseason moment in October that turns Yankees into legends.
It became a footnote when New York’s bullpen blew up.
Judge’s tying, two-out, two-run homer in the eighth inning — followed by Giancarlo Stanton’s solo shot — were upstaged Thursday night by a pair of lesser-known Cleveland players as the Guardians rallied for a 7-5 victory in Game 3 of the AL Championship Series.
Rookie Jhonkensy Noel hit a two-out, pinch-hit, two-run homer in the ninth inning off Luke Weaver and David Fry connected for a two-run shot in the 10th off Clay Holmes as the Guardians rallied against New York’s lights-out bullpen.
“It’s baseball. Stuff like that happens,” Judge said, standing in a quiet New York clubhouse. “Everyone in this room has faith in those guys.”
The Yankees became the first team in the postseason to be trailing by multiple runs in the eighth inning or later and hit consecutive homers to take the lead.
Another footnote.
Judge has been criticized for his lack of production in the postseason. He came in batting just .143 (3 for 21) in these playoffs and .206 (39 of 189) with 14 homers and 29 RBIs along with 72 strikeouts since his first playoffs appearance in 2017.
He homered in Game 2, a shot toward Monument Park that Yankee fans hoped would be followed by more deep drives. He struck out twice in Game 3 before the eighth, when he connected on a 1-2 pitch from All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase.
Judge drove the right-hander’s 99 mph cutter the opposite way to right field. When he hit it, Judge didn’t think it had a chance to leave the park and become his 15th career postseason homer, tying him with Babe Ruth for fourth place in club history.
“I was just trying for a little single to right with Stanton behind me,” Judge said. “Off the bat, I thought it was going to go off the wall. My first thought was just to get to second base.”
From his vantage point in the on-deck circle, Stanton marveled at Judge’s ability to hit Clase’s pitch so far.
“He (Clase) is a generational talent,” Stanton said. “It wasn’t a bad pitch. It was low on the black, but he does what he does.”
As the Yankees were still celebrating with Judge in the dugout, Stanton followed with his blast to center field and suddenly New York had a 4-3 lead — and just six outs away from a commanding 3-0 series lead.
“You’re going to celebrate big moments all the time like that,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who hit one of New York’s most memorable postseason homers to win the 2003 ALCS. “I threw a right-fist pump, like fired up. You certainly feel the energy of a couple of shots like that.”
But for the first time in this postseason, New York’s trusty bullpen didn’t come through.
Yankees’ relievers entered with a 0.77 ERA and 23 strikeouts before Weaver and Holmes, who tied franchise record with 13 blown saves and lost his closer’s job late in the regular season.
Fry’s homer were the first runs allowed by Holmes in 13 career postseason appearances.
“I really felt like I let the team down and let myself down,” Weaver said. “It hurts more knowing how close we were to being ahead 3-0. It feels a little devastating, but they earned it. They sure earned that win tonight.”
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