Clock Strikes 12: Guardians Eliminated By Yankees In ALCS

The Cleveland Guardians fell to the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the ALCS, ending their World Series hopes.

Giancarlo Stanton hits a home run in the Guardians-Yankees game. / Maddie Meyer-Getty Images

The Cleveland Guardians' magical ride has come to an end, as the New York Yankees defeated the Guardians, 5-2, in Game 5 of the ALCS on Saturday night to advance to the World Series.

It ends a Cinderella season for Cleveland, which won 92 games and captured the AL Central division title in improbable fashion.

The Guardians even jumped out to a 2-0 lead in Game 5, but Giancarlo Stanton hurt Cleveland once again, smashing a two-home run in the sixth inning to tie the game.

As has been the case for the Guardians for much of the year, the offense then stalled, as Cleveland failed to take advantage of the Yankees' lapses at the plate.

The game went into extra innings, where Juan Soto hammered a three-run blast to give New York a three-run lead it would not relinquish.

Tanner Bibee gave it his all in his second start of the series, lasting 5.2 innings. The only real mistake he made was the hanging breaking ball to Stanton, which he sent 446 feet into the left-center field seats.

The Guardians' bullpen, which was so incredible all throughout 2024, once again faltered in this series-deciding game, with Hunter Gaddis surrendering the 10th-inning homer to Soto.

Cleveland never looked quite comfortable against the Yankees during the regular season, as the Bronx Bombers won the regular-season series, 4-2. That carried over into the ALCS, as you never got the feeling that the Guardians would win this, especially after going down 2-0.

Regardless, it was a wildly successful season in The Land, and the Guardians certainly have a lot to build on moving forward.