CLEVELAND — — One late-night slump in October was one too many for the New York Yankees.

Again? Fugedover.

The Yankees scored two runs in the ninth inning off All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase and bounced back from a heartbreaking loss a day earlier to beat the Cleveland Guardians 8-6 on Friday night to take a 3-1 lead in the American competition. League Championship Series.

New York broke a 6-6 tie in the ninth when shortstop Brayan Rocchio booted Alex Verdugo’s RBI grounder on an error and Gleyber Torres followed with a runscoring single.

Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run home run, Juan Soto had a two-run shot in the first inning and Austin Wells also connected for the Yankees, who can advance to their 41st World Series – and first since 2009 – by Game 5 to be won on Saturday evening.

Just 24 hours after leaving Progressive Field wondering what went wrong, the Yankees showed resilience.

“Not surprised by these guys,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Last night was obviously a very tough defeat. And whatever happened today, win, lose or draw, I have no doubt that we would be ready to roll, ready to turn the page.

“Not a perfect game, but a gritty, tough, winning game.”

It was a messy ninth for Clase (0-2) as baseball’s best player faltered for the second night in a row.

New York had three hits in the ninth off the right-hander, who gave up back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning of Game 3, but was shut out when the Guardians hit two-run homers in the ninth and 10th.

This time he wasn’t so lucky as New York’s bullpen bent but didn’t break.

“I haven’t been able to execute my pitches,” Clase said through an interpreter. “Thanks to them because they were able to execute their at-bats.”

The Guardians are eliminated from the postseason for the second time. They rallied in the ALDS to get past Detroit and will need to win three straight, including two at Yankee Stadium, to have any chance of ending their 76-year World Series drought .

“We’ll be ready to win,” first-year manager Stephen Vogt said. ‘That’s what these guys are. Our backs are against the wall, we’re playing our best baseball. We don’t give up. This team is not happy with it. It’s not all year round yet.”

For the second straight night, Yankees relievers struggled in high-leverage situations. The Guardians scored three in the seventh, one in the eighth and threatened in the ninth, putting two runners on base.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone went to Tommy Kahnle – not closer Luke Weaver – for the final three outs and the right-hander put away Cleveland by throwing 18 pitches, all substitutions.

Stanton’s 400-foot drive in the sixth inning off rookie Cade Smith put the Yankees ahead 6-2. Stanton has seven career postseason hits against Cleveland, all home runs.

After Cleveland closed to 6-5 in the seventh, rookie Jhonkensy Noel sent a shiver through the ballpark when he flied out to a man on the warning track. Noel’s pinch-hit home run in the ninth inning had tied Game 3.

The Guardians tied the score in the eighth when the Yankees botched an easy play in the infield, another of their fielding and baserunning errors.

Bo Naylor doubled and advanced on an infield grounder. Mark Leiter Jr. (1-0), added to the Yankees’ ALCS roster earlier in the day as Ian Hamilton’s injury replacement, brought in Steven Kwan. Leiter appeared to get out of the inning when David Fry, one of Cleveland’s Game 3 home run stars, hit a slow grounder to right field.

Leiter rushed the ball onto the grass, knocked it down and scooped the ball barehanded as he approached the foul line toward first. His low somersault to first went through the legs of Anthony Rizzo and drew a foul as Naylor scored.

Stanton, who hit back-to-back home runs with Aaron Judge in the eighth inning on Thursday, gave the Yankees a four-run lead with his 15th career postseason home run.

Smith, dominant during the regular season, walked Soto during the sixth inning. Judge singled and Stanton hit a 1-2 fastball into the stands, where a sizable contingent of Yankees fans waited for the ball to land.

“I was in the zone and fell behind in the count,” Smith said. “I think I threw what he was looking for.”

Stanton tied Carlos Beltrán and Nelson Cruz for the most home runs through the first 35 career playoff games. He also tied Judge and Babe Ruth for fourth-most in club history.

But the personal accolades meant nothing to Stanton. After Game 3, a win was all that mattered.

And now New York needs one more.

“No trail is safe,” Stanton said. “It’s a great team there, but it’s just important to keep pushing. They answered the bell. It’s a wave. It’s a roller coaster. But yeah, it was good to come out on top today.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: Hamilton injured a calf while covering first base in the sixth inning of Game 3. He will not be eligible for the World Series if New York advances. Boone said he considered adding left-hander Nestor Cortes, but wanted to give the southpaw as much time as possible to recover from an elbow injury.

NEXT

Yankees LHP Carlos Rodón makes his second start of the series after a strong Game 1 performance: one run and three hits with nine strikeouts in six innings. He will face Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee, who was pulled after just 39 pitches in Game 2 and will pitch on three days’ rest.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb