Yankees Get Away With Dumbfounding Gaffe In ALCS Game 4

The New York Yankees ended up taking Game 4 of the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians on Friday night, but a brutal error almost cost them a win.

The Guardians erased a 6-2 deficit and leveled the score in the bottom of the eighth inning thanks to New York failing to come through on a play any Little Leaguer could have made.

Yankees reliever Mark Leiter Jr., who was added to New York’s playoff roster prior to the game, got Guardians infielder Shane Fry — the hero of Game 3 — to hit a weak comebacker to him. The only issue? Leiter couldn’t handle it.

Leiter first booted the ball to the first-base line and after chasing it down, hurried his flip to first, which went through the legs of Anthony Rizzo, allowing Bo Naylor to score the game-tying run. You can watch the wild play unfold here.

Leiter was charged with an error on the play while Fry was also credited with an infield hit. It looked like it would be the momentum-turning swing the Guardians needed to level the series, but New York persevered.

Leiter got a strikeout to strand two runners and end the inning, and in the top of the ninth, the Yankees got to Guardians star closer Emmanuel Clase again. Clase allowed two runs on three hits as former Boston Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo helped push the decisive run across by hitting a squibber that shortstop Brayan Rocchio couldn’t handle, which plated Jon Berti. Rocchio was charged with an error on the play.

New York then got out of a jam in the bottom of the ninth as Tommy Kahnle left two runners on base to secure the save and an 8-6 win. The Yankees sure didn’t make it easy on themselves, but they are now just one win from going to the World Series for the first time since 2009.