The New York Yankees failed to take full control of the ALCS as they lost Game 3 to the Guardians, thanks to a heartbreaking walkoff homer from David Fry that put Cleveland up 7-5 in the tenth inning. While Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton showed up and took the lead for New York, Jhonkensy Noel–also known as “Big Christmas”–hit a game-tying homer that energized his team going down the wire. Still, Yankees pitcher Clay Holmes remains confident that they can bounce back and take Game 4 on the road.
“I have a lot of confidence that we can come out here tomorrow and bounce back,” Holmes said during a postgame interview, via YES Network on X, formerly Twitter.
ALCS Game 3: Guardians def. Yankees, Yankees lead series 2-1
True enough, the Yankees may have lost Game 3 to the Guardians, they still lead the series and have a chance to take control of their destiny by winning Game 4 at Progressive Field.
On the other hand, the Guardians now have all the confidence in the world, and will give their opponents everything they have to avoid falling into a 3-1 hole, despite retaining home field advantage until Games 6 and 7.
The Guardians will try their hardest to make the ALCS a best-of-three slugfest heading back to Yankee Stadium, where anything can happen.
“When everybody thinks we can’t do it, we think we can,” David Fry said after Game 3 via an AFP report. “What a win. That was so good. It was fun.”
Meanwhile, Yankees skipper Aaron Boone also shares Clay Holmes’ belief that they can bounce back after the loss.
“They scratched and clawed their way back in,” he said. “Sucks losing like that but we’ll be ready to roll tomorrow.”
Both teams are looking to end World Series droughts. The Yankees haven’t reached the World Series since winning it all in 2009, while the Guardians plan to redeem their 2016 loss, ending the MLB’s longest championship drought that began in 1948.
