Clase came in with two outs after Hunter Gaddis walked Juan Soto on four pitches. He worked ahead of Judge 1-2 before the Yankees captain drilled a 99 mph cutter on the outside corner of the plate, 350 feet over the wall in right field, for his 15th career postseason home run and sixth in ALCS play.

According to Statcast, the ball would have been a home run in eight of the 29 other ballparks, including Yankee Stadium. To make matters worse, Giancarlo Stanton capped a seven-pitch at-bat with a solo blast to center field, giving New York a 4–3 lead.

Guardians designated hitter David Fry said it felt like Cleveland had been punched in the mouth with baseball’s best pitcher on the mound. Clase dominated during the regular season with more saves (47) than anyone in the American League. You needed a microscope to find his ERA, a paltry 0.61.

Clase had given his all on the mound for the Guardians all season. So Fry and his teammates decided it was time to give back.

“It was just like, ‘You know what, it’s time we give him a break,’” Fry said. “He carried our team all year in the ninth inning, and it’s our time to pick him up, and I’m glad we did that.”

Home runs by Jhonkensy Noel in the ninth and Fry in the 10th ultimately gave Cleveland a 7-5 walk-off victory and kept the Guardians alive, trailing by two games to one in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series.

It was Clase’s first save in four postseason opportunities dating back to 2022. He allowed multiple home runs in a game for the first time in his career, regular season or postseason. Clase didn’t stick around to talk to reporters about handing over the lead.

Afterwards, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt understood what made the Clase-Judge matchup so special, and why everyone in the stadium was still buzzing about it more than an hour later.

“I think there’s one person who could hit Emmanuel Clase’s throw out of the yard, and he did,” Vogt said. “As a baseball fan, it was really cool. As the opponent’s manager, that was not the case.”

Vogt said Thursday before the eighth inning that his closer had been nearly perfect this season.

“We couldn’t have asked anything more from Emmanuel all year and he will be back in the ninth tomorrow night,” Vogt said. “He’s human.”

After the game, Noel said there was no reason to console Clase because Cleveland ultimately won the game. But he echoed Fry’s comments through Guardians interpreter Agustin Rivero, saying his team is lucky to have the best pitcher in the world on their side.

“That’s going to happen, and he’s saved us so many times that this is the least we can do for him,” Noel said.

Cleveland’s blueprint for beating New York was working before Clase faltered. Matthew Boyd gave them five innings, turning the ball over to the Big Four at the back of their bullpen with a lead in the sixth inning. Boyd retired the last 10 batters he faced on Jose Trevino’s RBI single in the second, including seven on ground balls. Boyd became the first Guardians starter to complete five innings and earn a win in the 2024 playoffs.

Cade Smith smelled Judge on four pitches in the sixth, with the final strike coming on a bad splitter down and in after three straight 95 mph fastballs. Smith needed 10 pitches to get through his inning. They were all strikes.

Tim Herrin walked Jazz Chisholm Jr. to open the seventh, but got Jon Berti to ground out to Jose Ramirez, creating a double play. After Anthony Volpe doubled into the left field corner, Herrin set up Alex Verdugo on a harmless pop to Steven Kwan.

Gaddis struck out Trevino and retired Gleyber Torres on a grounder to second base before walking Juan Soto on four straight pitches.

That set up Clase vs. Judge, two of the biggest human differences in baseball this season, and both in line to take home a boatload of postseason awards.

• Judge led the majors with 58 home runs and 144 RBI. The presumptive American League MVP also led baseball in on-base percentage (.458), slugging percentage (.701), on-base plus slugging (1.159), walks (133), times on base ( 322), game-winning RBI (24) and go-ahead RBI (32).
• Clase led all Major League relievers with 0.61 ERA and was second in the Majors with a .064 batting average against with runners in scoring position. He allowed home runs in just two appearances over 74 1/3 innings and still earned saves in both games.
• Clase’s control was elite. He walked only 10 batters out of 270 batters he faced. He converted 36 consecutive saves after May 20, including the postseason. The Guardians were 66-8 when he pitched in a regular season game.

But Judge took him deep for just his fourth home run allowed in 2024, including two in the regular season and two in the playoffs. Judge has seven home runs in the postseason, which ties Derek Jeter for third-most in Yankees history, behind Babe Ruth and Bernie Williams (8).

“Aaron Judge is one of the best hitters on the planet, and it was a fun game to watch,” Vogt said. “I wish it would have been the other way around, but we’re lucky we got this one, and we’re ready to go tomorrow.”

Boyd said the Guardians are all about Clase.

“He has the ball every time the game is on the line, and I’m going to take it from whoever is in the box every time,” Boyd said. “Our entire club thinks the same way.”

What happened after Clase met Judge showed exactly who Cleveland is as a team.

“We just keep fighting,” Boyd said. “Like I said, it’s in our DNA, and that’s what we hang our hat on.”