The Guardians rallied and quickly made their mark on Luke Weaver and Clay Holmes, turning the tide and ensuring this series was far from over. For the first time in this series, the Yankees handed the ball over to the Guardians’ stellar bullpen with a lead, and it seemed like everything was unfolding just as expected. But then, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton stepped up, and suddenly, the atmosphere shifted. The crowd of 32,531 was electric, but in an instant, they were left in stunned silence as those two powerhouse hitters unleashed their magic. But that high didn’t last long, did it?  

After being one strike away from a commanding 3-0 series lead and their first World Series appearance since 2009, the Yankees head into Friday’s Game 4 with a 2-1 series advantage. Luke Weaver expressed his feelings after the tough outing according to the New York Post: “Really felt like I let the team down there, myself down. It’s baseball; things like that happen in the twist of an arm. It just feels a little devastating, but at the end of the day, you got to bounce back.” It’ll be interesting to see how the Yankees respond on Friday! 

Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton had set the mood in the top of the eighth. They launched back-to-back homers to push the Yankees ahead 4-3. The duo even tacked on an insurance run in the ninth, and for a moment, it felt like the game was theirs. But just when you thought it was in the bag, Jhonkensy Noel stepped up and delivered a gut punch with a two-out, two-run shot off Luke Weaver in the bottom of the ninth. The cheers quickly turned to gasps as the Guardians tied it up.  

What went down at the game?

Weaver and Holmes had been rock-solid for the Yankees this postseason. That is up until this Thursday, combining for 13 ²/₃ innings of one-run ball. They really helped settle what had been one of the club’s biggest question marks heading into October – the pitching. Fans were feeling confident with them on the mound. Though both players said they were physically fine, the Yankees’ pitching struggled for the seventh time in their seventh postseason game.

It was a difficult turn of events. “We’ve taken blows all year long, and there’s no doubt we can overcome this and bounce back,” Holmes stated. Luke Weaver came in to wrap up the eighth and got ahead 0-2 against Lane Thomas with two outs in the ninth. It looked like he was in control, but Thomas put up a fight and worked it to a full count before doubling. 

Then, Weaver left a changeup right down the middle—he said it slipped out of his hand—and Noel made him pay. He launched it for a game-tying shot. In the bottom of the 10th, with two outs and a runner on third, Clay Holmes found himself in a tight spot. He threw a sinker to Fry that was a little too high, and Fry clobbered it. Not going to lie, it was a game that sure kept the fans hooked.