KANSAS CITY, Mo. – On the one-month (and three days) anniversary of Luke Weaver's admitted out-of-body-experience first career save, the right-hander recorded the five biggest outs of the Yankees' season.
After Giancarlo Stanton untied Wednesday night's best-of-five AL Division Series Game 3 with a monstrous solo homer in the eighth, Weaver locked down a 3-2 victory against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
Now, Gerrit Cole will try to send the Yankees to the AL Championship Series - against either Cleveland or Detroit - with a win in Thursday night's Game 4 here, against Michael Wacha.
Three outs to go
Did you think Bobby Witt Jr. (single, 1-for-12 in the ALDS) would try and steal second base with two out and Salvy Perez up? We did.
But Witt Jr. stayed put and when Perez grounded a single to center, it was first and third (not a game-tying RBI single). Next, Yuli Gurriel flied out to end the eighth vs. Luke Weaver, and it's still 3-2, Yanks.
Now, here comes the top of the Yankees batting order vs. Michael Lorenzen.
One and done (in the 8th)
Aaron Boone obviously liked the matchup between Tommy Kahnle and Michael Massey, who struck out on a Kahnle changeup to open the Royal eighth...
...and here comes Luke Weaver, on to try and nail down a five-out save at Kauffman Stadium. First up, Bobby Witt Jr.
Not yet, Luke
OK, instead of going to closer Luke Weaver now, with the top of the Royals order coming up and six outs to go for a Game 3 win, Boone is sticking with Kahnle to start the eighth.
Weaver was warming up, and presumably ready. Let's see how it goes...
Giancarlo takes over
Stanton just hammered a 3-1 pitch by lefty Kris Bubic 417 feet over the left-center field wall, and it's 3-2 Yankees here in the eighth.
When healthy, Stanton has saved his best for postseason as a Yankee, and he's 3-for-4 tonight with a double, a STOLEN BASE, and now a go-ahead homer in a huge spot.
Aaron Judge vs. Brady Singer
Huge moment for Aaron Judge coming up.
Juan Soto worked a two-out walk, and now Royals starter-turned-reliever-in-the-ALDS Brady Singer is entering...
And Judge strikes out on a full count, on appeal at first base - crew chief Mark Carlson said he went too far.
Ready to go to first base, Judge shook his head ruefully, Aaron Boone was livid in the dugout and the Yankees captain is now 1-for-11 with zero RBI in this series.
Feats of Clay
Setup work suits Clay Holmes just fine.
Holmes retired four of the five Royals he faced (Bobby Witt Jr. walked) and he's been unscored upon in four innings, appearing in all three ALDS games so far. Still 2-2 after six.
Giancarlo Stanton just stole second base
No, it's not a line from 2014.
They weren't paying attention to him (who would?) and Stanton (2-for-3) easily swiped his first base of the year, giving the Yanks a runner in scoring position with two out and Volpe up in the sixth.
Since Opening Day of 2019, Stanton had one stolen base in two attempts until tonight. Anyway, reliever John Schreiber and the Royals kept the Yanks off the board.
New ballgame, new Yankees pitcher
KC has tied it 2-2 in the fifth, and here comes Clay Holmes to replace Clarke Schmidt. OK, should Holmes have been in a batter earlier to face the Royals' top of the order?
After a two-out infield single by Adam Frazier and an RBI double by No. 9 hitter Kyle Isbel off the left field corner wall, just fair, Holmes was warming up.
Boone stayed with Schmidt, who surrendered a game-tying RBI triple to leadoff man Michael Massey, past the diving attempt of Juan Soto, who is not a Gold Glover in right.
Brand new game, and they got LOUD here at Kauffman. And somewhere on the suite level, in a home Royals jersey, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is cheering like mad.
Are we that much closer to a Subway Series?
How about those Mets, slaying another dragon and moving on to the NLCS!
And here in KC, the Yanks have a 2-0 lead on a bases loaded sac fly by Juan Soto.
Royals starter Seth Lugo lost the plate, giving up walks to Oswaldo Cabrera (2nd walk of the game) and Gleyber Torres (5th walk of the series) after a leadoff Anthony Volpe single, setting up Soto.
With runners at the corners, Aaron Judge flied out to end the inning. He's 1-for-10 in the ALDS, Bobby Witt Jr. is 0-for-12.
Yankees strike first
With two out in the fourth, Giancarlo Stanton smashed a double off the left-center field wall, scoring Juan Soto (walk) for a 1-0 lead.
Since that terrific Sept. 10 start by Seth Lugo at Yankee Stadium it's the Yanks' first run off Lugo in the last 10.2 innings.
Foul...or fair by a blade of grass?
Third inning and already a controversial call. Make it two controversial calls, since Gleyber Torres' bloop to right was ruled foul on the field and backed up by the umpires in the video room.
Only, the ball might have struck a blade or two of white chalk-lined grass - that's what Aaron Boone and the Yankees' dugout felt, and it could've meant a run, with Oswaldo Cabrera scoring from first base.
Anyway, the Royals faithful cheered the "foul'' call and Torres gave them another scare - flying out to the right field warning track. Still scoreless as we go to the KC third.
And we have outfield umpires
By the way, they add foul line umps in postseason for this reason (it's Ryan Blakney in right tonight), but how many times have we seen missed calls anyway?
One reference: See Garcia, Richie, and the '96 ALCS Jeffrey Maier homer by Derek Jeter.
Clarke Schmidt gets tough
After Yuli Gurriel just missed a one-out solo homer, settling for a double off the left field wall, Clarke Schmidt struck out MJ Melendez swinging at a curveball and got Maikel Garcia (4 hits in Game 2) to ground out, ending the second inning.
All that booing for Jazz
Royals fans weren't fond of Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s "they got lucky'' quote after Kansas City's Game 2 win.
The sellout crowd heavily booed pregame introduction, his at-bat intro, and jeered him before every pitch - until they cheered his groundout, which ended the Yanks' second inning.
First inning noise, but nothing else
After walking to start Games 1 and 2, Gleyber Torres went after Seth Lugo's first pitch and grounded out, then Juan Soto flied to the center field track and Aaron Judge - again seeking to change his October mojo - lined out on a nice leaping grab by Bobby Witt Jr.
Here at the K, the "M-V-P'' chants are for Witt Jr., who gave the crowd a thrill by flying to the right field track vs. Clarke Schmidt. Witt Jr. is now 0-for-11 in the ALDS.
Yankees' Game 3 lineup: Oswaldo Cabrera is back
Manager Aaron Boone has made one slight lineup adjustment for a Game 3, returning Oswaldo Cabrera to first base.
That creates more left-right balance against Kansas City right-hander Seth Lugo, who did a number on the Yanks back on Sept. 10 (7 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 10 K).
“Deliberated on it a bit, just felt like (Cabrera) was the right guy for today,’’ said Boone. So, Jon Berti – who handled first base well in Game 2 – was on the bench.
Clarke Schmidt gets the ball for his first-ever playoff start (he made three postseason appearances in relief in 2022), and Luis Gil is in line, if needed, for length after Schmidt.
"Yes, he's really confident,'' Boone said of Schmidt. "But he's really good.''
- Gleyber Torres, 2B
- Juan Soto, RF
- Aaron Judge, CF
- Austin Wells, C
- Giancarlo Stanton, DH
- Jazz Chisholm Jr., 3B
- Anthony Volpe, SS
- Oswaldo Cabrera, 1B
- Alex Verdugo, LF
Looking ahead to Game 4
For Wednesday night's Game 4, it'll be a Game 1 rematch between Gerrit Cole and KC's Michael Wacha.
Cole said he's "looking to sharpen up some of the things that kind of hurt'' in his previous start,'' when he yielded four runs (three earned) in five innings.
"(I'm) looking to continue just to be as efficient as possible and give our team the best chance to win.''
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Giancarlo Stanton plays the hero as Yankees win nail-biter ALDS Game 3 over Royals
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