The Yankees Beat the Guardians in ALDS 5: Live Updates

The Yankees rode the left arm of Nestor Curtis, who started on a short rest and delivered more than expected — one run on five effective rounds. They rode the bats of champions Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge, who both resumed early and calmed the nerves of Yankees fans. They rode the bulls, woefully drained by injuries, and threw four goal-free runs to seal the victory.

Nearly 24 hours after the final game in the Bronx on Tuesday, the Yankees will start Houston’s top-of-seven ALCS against the once-comfortable Astros, who have only played three times in the past 13 days. And up the hill the Astros will go with their stock, AL Cy Young’s number one contender Justin Verlander at age 39 after returning from Tommy John’s surgery. In order to oust the Guardians, the Yankees needed to start ace Gerrit Cole twice, including as recently as Sunday, so right-hand man Jameson Tellon is expected to start the first game of the ALCS

The Astros, making their sixth consecutive ALCS appearance, are the familiar and annoying October enemy of the Yankees. The two previous times, the Yankees made it to the ALCS — in 2017 and in 2019 — they were eliminated by the Astros.

The Yankees had reason to worry about their 2017 exit in seven games from the ALCS The Astros, who won the world championship that year, later found out that he Illegal theft of tags This season is postseason. Major League Baseball penalized the Astros, who in turn fired their general manager and manager at the time. In 2019, the Astros beat the Yankees in six games, but fell to the Washington Nationals for the World Championship.

This season, although the Yankees struggled in the second half, they and the Astros were the two best teams in the AL. They had their first two qualifying rounds, with the Astros in first place as they won 106 games. To 99 Yankees. The Astros swept Seattle into their league series, while the Yankees needed five games – and a week – to infiltrate the Guardians.

This series is defined by more stops than the beginning. Game 2 was in the Bronx Postponed from Thursday to Friday because of the rain. Match 5 was also postponed due to rain from Monday to Tuesday – originally a day of travel and practice – but only after teams and fans waited two and a half hours before being sent home by MLB

Whether it’s rain or not, the Guardians have proven difficult to get out of. They’ve won 92 games and the weakest AL Central divisional title, but they have a solid pitching staff, play solid defense and have a troublesome lineup that, unlike most modern baseball teams, makes a lot of contact and hits a few home runs. They have a payroll of $90 million, ranked 27th out of 30 MLB teams, while the Yankees’ $259 million salary was the third-largest. And the guardians are small: Hmm I used 17 juniors this yearsetting a major league record for the most juniors in a division or league winning team.

Throughout the series, they exposed some of the Yankees’ weaknesses, particularly in defense and in their bases. But on Tuesday, the Yankees used the formula that has carried them this season: strong starts and springboards, classes that have been among the best — if not the best — in MLB.

The Yankees dominated the game from the start. Curtis, the Yankees’ All-Star player who was starting with a day of less rest, sprinted around the front of one of Guardians left player Stephen Kwan in the first half goalless.

Then in the lower half of the frame, the Yankees lineup turned the stands into a festive spectacle. Cleveland manager Terry Francona said Guardians best player Shane Pepper did not start Game Five because the team wanted to protect his health. (Bieber started game two on Friday, versus Curtis.)

So the Guardians turned to right-hander Aaron Seval, who was initially not on the team’s roster in the first round of the playoffs against Tampa Bay and had a 4.92 ERA during the regular season. The result went as expected.

Civale walked the Yankees hitter, Gleyber Torres, across four pitches. The judge’s write-off was his only achievement. Then he hit first baseman Anthony Rizzo with a projectile. Stanton let the first two balls pass by him and then swung the first court into the strike zone, sending them to the right court benches to blast three runs that lit up Yankee Stadium.

The next hitter, Josh Donaldson, hit a single and that was enough for Francona, who knocked Civale out of the game. The guards now had to cover the 26 outside with their rods. However, Curtis saved the Yankees’ relief teams from the heavy burden.

When Curtis split the Guardian lineup, his teammates gave him more wiggle room. In the second inning, Judge hit a curve ball from left savior Sam Hentges over the center right field fence for a solo blowout. It was the fourth time at home in a game that the winner had won everything, and the most in MLB history, according to the Yankees.

Rizzo gave the Yankees a 5-1 lead in the fifth game with a single goal from Torres. After Curtis and the Three Yankees did the rest. And after the final, the Yankees celebrated, but maybe not much. The next round and the Astros were already on it.