ALDS: Guardians Beat Yankees in Game 2, Tying Series - The New York Times

Asked to pitch in relief for the first time in his career, Jameson Taillon was undone in the 10th inning by soft contact, a defensive miscue and a line drive.

In the playoffs, all bets are off for pitching staffs. Starting pitchers become relievers. Relievers lose their roles from the regular season. When the game is on the line, closers enter earlier than their usual ninth inning.

Having burned through most of the best options in his injury-riddled bullpen in a low-scoring duel with the Cleveland Guardians on Friday, Yankees Manager Aaron Boone turned to Jameson Taillon in extra innings. The Yankees’ No. 3 starting pitcher for most of the season, Taillon was making the first relief appearance of his six-year major-league career after 143 starts.

Two lazy fly balls, a line drive and a throwing error by third baseman Josh Donaldson defined a chaotic inning that felled the Yankees, 4-2, in 10 innings in Game 2 of this best-of-five American League division series. The sellout crowd of 47,535 went quiet when Guardians right fielder Oscar González’s bloop dropped in front of right fielder Aaron Judge for the go-ahead single. It stayed that way when first baseman Josh Naylor smoked a run-scoring double over center fielder Harrison Bader, adding an insurance run.

“We just try to find a way on base anyway we have,” Naylor said. “If it’s a bloop hit, it’s a bloop hit. If it’s a hard-hit single, double — whatever the case it — we just try to hustle. Try to make things happen on the field, try to put pressure on the defense.”

What was a pitching battle most of the day between two of the top-five pitching staffs in the majors this season ended with a Guardians’ win that evened the series at one game apiece. The 10th inning began when Guardians start third baseman José Ramírez sliced a ball toward left field that fell in between left fielder Oswaldo Cabrera and Donaldson. Ramírez ran hard out of the batter’s box, Donaldson threw wide of second base and Ramírez got to third to set up the nail-biting victory.

Johnny Milano for The New York Times

“You can usually tell the anxiety by the wads of gum and tobacco that are in front of me,” Guardians Manager Terry Francona said afterward, later commending Ramírez’s hustle. “That’s a pretty big pile.”

The series now switches venues to Progressive Field in Cleveland with Game 3 slated for Saturday night and starting pitchers Luis Severino and Triston McKenzie facing off. Should the series go the maximum five games, the teams will have played four games in as many days, spread out over two cities, because of Major League Baseball’s scheduling following the lockout and a rainout on Thursday. The teams played Game 2 on Friday afternoon instead, losing a day off to travel and work out.

In the first inning, the Yankees jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton.

With two outs and a runner on first, Stanton worked a 3-1 count but a pitch that appeared to be far outside the strike zone from Guardians starting pitcher Shane Bieber was called a strike. So Stanton, instead of walking, had the at-bat continue. Bieber’s 3-2 pitch was a fastball over the plate that Stanton sliced over the right field wall for a two-run blast.

“We would’ve liked to have this one today but we have to go their house and take one or take two,” Stanton said afterward.

Entering Game 2, the Guardians offense had produced four runs over three games this postseason, all via the home run. That method was the reverse of their regular-season ethos, when the Guardians lineup made a lot of contact and was second-to-last in home runs.

To halve the Yankees’ lead in the fourth inning, the Guardians returned to their usual style of scoring. Naylor reached on an infield single and Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes walked designated hitter Owen Miller on four pitches.

Andrés Giménez, the Guardians’ All-Star second baseman, then smacked a single to trim Cleveland’s deficit to 2-1. After going 0 for 14 with runners in scoring position to start the playoffs, that hit finally broke the streak and it gave the Guardians their first run not scored by the long ball.

“When they put the ball in play, they create havoc,” said Cortes, who added that he could have done better than allowing two runs over five innings.

Cortes made matters more difficult in the fourth inning when he walked the light-hitting catcher Austin Hedges to load the bases. But Cortes saved himself with an acrobatic play when center fielder Myles Straw chopped a ball up the middle, Cortes fell down as he reached back to snare it and threw Straw out while on the ground.

Pounding his glove as he walked into the dugout, Cortes had seemingly wrestled a teetering game back toward the Yankees. But an inning later, Guardians shortstop Amed Rosario drilled a solo home run over the center field wall to tie the game at 2.

Johnny Milano for The New York Times

The score stayed that way for several more frames. One reason: Both teams said hitting in the shadows at Yankee Stadium made it harder. Another: The Guardians have held the Yankees’ best hitter, Judge, in check. Through two games, the A.L. Most Valuable Player candidate, who set an A.L. record with 62 home runs during the regular season, was 0 for 5 on Friday, hearing a few boos after his fourth strikeout. In all, he was 0 for 8 with one walk and seven strikeouts in the series.

Judge said that his timing was off and thus missing pitches he normally hit hard, adding “I’ve two bad games in my career multiple times. You learn from your mistakes and get ready for the next one. There’s no breaks right now.”

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Yankees loaded the bases by drawing three walks against Guardians reliever James Karinchak. But Francona turned to Emmanuel Clase, his team’s All-Star closer, who got Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka to line out to end the threat.

And because this is the postseason, the Guardians leaned hard on Clase. Francona asked Clase, who did not get more than three outs in any outing during the regular season, to pitch the ninth inning and he delivered a scoreless frame. Once the Guardians took the lead, Clase took the mound yet again. His 33rd and final pitch was 99 miles per hour and secured the Guardians’ road win.

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