SI

Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton Hit Back-to-Back HRs to Revive Yankees Late in Game 3

Ryan Phillips

Judge and Stanton hit back-to-back home runs to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead in Game 3 of the ALDS.
Judge and Stanton hit back-to-back home runs to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead in Game 3 of the ALDS. / David Richard-Imagn Images
In this story:

The New York Yankees turned Game 3 of the American League division series on its head in the span of two batters.

The Yankees entered the top of the eighth inning trailing the Cleveland Guardians 3-1. After reliever Hunter Gaddis retired the first two batters, Juan Soto worked a walk to bring up Aaron Judge representing the tying run. Cleveland countered by bringing in lights-out closer Emmanuel Clase. And that's where things got crazy.

Clase got ahead 0-2, then threw a 99 mph cutter that missed the plate. On 1-2, he went back to the cutter, again at 99 mph, and Judge turned it around. The Yankees superstar launched the ball off the bat at 109.9 mph and sent an absolute laser just over the wall in right field to tie the game 3-3.

The Yankees dugout exploded as the ball left the park. But that wasn't the end of it.

Giancarlo Stanton stepped to the plate next and Clase, once again, got ahead of him 1-2. After Stanton fouled off two cutters, Clase threw a slider for the seventh pitch of the at-bat and he hung it. Stanton blasted it 390 feet to center field at 106.1 mph. It cleared the fence and sent New York's dugout into a frenzy.

The Yankees poured out of the dugout to greet him with their newfound 4-3 lead.

Amazing. Simply amazing.

Clase was nearly perfect during the regular season, racking up 47 saves, an ERA of 0.61 and a WHIP of 0.66. After that inning and those two home runs, his ERA in the 2024 MLB playoffs is now up to 9.00.

More of the Latest Around MLB

feed

Published |Modified
Ryan Phillips
RYAN PHILLIPS

Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.

Home/MLB