The New York Yankees are heading to the World Series for the first time since 2009 thanks in large measure to a 10-inning home run from Juan Soto.
The Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians 5-2 in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series on Saturday night and with the win claimed the series by a count of 4-1. The Yankees have now won 41 pennants, the most by any franchise.
Tied 2-2 in the top of the 10th inning, Soto came up with two outs and two on. On the seventh pitch of his at-bat against Hunter Gaddis, Soto got the high fastball he so often hunts for, and he put a pennant-winning swing on it:
That gave the Yankees a three-run lead, and Luke Weaver worked the bottom half to secure the save and send the Yankees to the World Series to face either the New York Mets or the Los Angeles Dodgers.
For a time, though, it seemed the Guardians would prevail in the elimination contest and send the series back to Bronx for a Game 6. Cleveland led 2-0 in the sixth, and Guardians starter Tanner Bibee was on the cusp of getting out of a jam. He'd just induced a double play off the bat of Aaron Judge. As the potential tying run, Stanton worked the count full against Bibee and then did this to a misplaced changeup:
It was a game-tying, 446-foot blast that left the bat at 117.5 mph. It was Stanton's fifth home run of the 2024 postseason and fourth of the ALCS. It was also his 16th career postseason home run in just 36 games, all with the Yankees. Also of note is that Stanton's homer chased Bibee from the game and turned it over to the overworked Cleveland bullpen. Speaking of which, Gaddis was making his fourth appearance of the series and eighth of the postseason when he allowed the game-changing homer to Soto. Soto, coincidentally, secured the final out of the series in right field.
Now for some takeaways as the Yankees will try to win it all for the first time in 15 years and for the 28th time in franchise history.
The Yankees will get plenty of rest before the World Series
This year, MLB employed flex scheduling for the World Series for the first time. Had the ALCS and NLCS both been decided in no more than five games, then Game 1 of the World Series would have been on Oct. 22. The Yankees indeed wrapped up the pennant in five games, but the Mets and Dodgers will play Game 6 in Los Angeles on Sunday night. That means Game 1 of the World Series will instead be on Oct. 25 (with a potential Game 7 being scheduled for Nov. 2). In turn, that works out to five days off for the Yankees and at least one more than the Dodgers if they wrap up the NLCS in Game 6. After a six-month regular season and a heap of max-effort, high-intensity October baseball, more rest is always welcome, and the Yanks have plenty of it on the way.
The Fall Classic is going to be a large-market clash with compelling storylines no matter what happens in the NLCS
Any World Series is compelling because it's, well, the World Series. The reality, though, is that large-market franchises, especially flagship ones, get more attention and draw more eyeballs. That will be the case with the 2024 World Series no matter who prevails out in Los Angeles. If it's the Yankees and Dodgers, then it's a clash of MLB's colossi, the two most vaunted franchises in the sport who have met in the World Series 11 times dating back to 1941 (but not since 1981).
And if it's the Mets? It's a crosstown clash between big brother and little brother with all the hostilities and assumptions baked into such a pairing. It's happened before, back in 2000, and it's something that seemed unthinkable not all that long ago. The Mets, though, crafted a series of miracles that makes a World Series matchup with the Yankees tantalizingly near at hand. No matter how NLCS Game 6 and maybe NLCS Game 7 unfurl, the 2024 World Series is going to be appointment viewing.
Cleveland's title drought lives for another year
Five teams have never won the World Series – the Padres, Brewers, Rockies, Rays, and Mariners. The Guardians, though, have the longest title drought in MLB, as their last World Series triumph predates the existence of all those five clubs. Not since 1948 has Cleveland won the World Series. They came agonizingly close in 2016, you'll recall, but instead the Cubs wound up barging back in Game 7 and winning their first title since 1908. Cleveland had another close call in 1997, but that World Series against the Marlins occasioned another extra-innings loss in Game 7. Unfortunately for the Guardians and their fans, the drought is now 76 years and counting.