The Guardians, who have defied the odds all season, were moments away from a heartbreaking defeat after leading by two runs going into the eighth. Noel, who made his debut in June, gave them new life by crashing a 1-0 pitch from Luke Weaver over the left-field wall to make it 5-5.

Lane Thomas doubled with two outs off Weaver before Noel, known as Big Christmas, hit one of the biggest home runs in Cleveland history.

As he walked the bases, Progressive Field fans danced in their seats and in the aisles in a moment reminiscent of Rajai Davis’ tying run over Aroldis Chapman in the eighth inning of the 2016 World Series Game 7.

Fry and Noel’s shots came after Judge and Stanton hit their home runs, giving the Yankees a 4-3 lead against Clase.

But the Guardians aren’t done yet and still have a chance to end the longest World Series drought, stretching back to 1948. At this point, it seems like they’re capable of anything.

Judge homered in Game 2 but hit just .143 (3 of 21) with eight strikeouts in October before seeing action against Clase, the AL’s saves leader and MLB’s most feared reliever in 2024.

After falling behind 1-2 in the count, Judge, who was on the field for batting practice five hours before the game, sat back and drove a 99 mph cutter from Clase the other way to right, with the ball just drove over the outfield wall.

New York’s players poured out of the dugout to celebrate as Judge, the presumptive AL MVP after hitting 58 home runs in the regular season, circled the bases after his 15th postseason homer.

The Yankees, who had been held to three hits through the first seven innings, were still exchanging hugs and high-fives when Stanton crushed a 1-2 slider from Clase and sent it over the center field wall.

Clase had been flawless all season, allowing just five runs and recording 34 consecutive saves while dominating nearly every time he took the mound. But he was tagged for a three-run homer in the ninth by Detroit’s Kerry Carpenter in the ALDS before Judge and Stanton got him within an eight-pitch span.

New York had two with no outs in the ninth, but scored only one run on Gleyber Torres’ sacrifice fly. Eli Morgan ended the inning with a called third strike past Juan Soto.

Rookie Kyle Manzardo hit a two-run homer in the third for Cleveland.

The 30th postseason matchup between the Guardians and the Yankees was another closely contested matchup between two franchises that know each other well this time of year. This is their seventh meeting in the playoffs.

Cleveland finally got some length from a starter when Matthew Boyd pitched five innings, the most Guardians manager Stephen Vogt has allowed this postseason. The left-hander gave up two singles in the second before retiring 10 straight, including seven on easy grounders.