ALCS Game 3 among Yankees meltdowns in Cleveland

ALCS Game 3 between the Yankees and Guardians was a postseason thriller that will be remembered for a long time. But the Yankees would probably like to wipe their memory clean of Thursday’s instant classic.

It was the second game in postseason history to feature four game-tying or go-ahead home runs in the eighth inning or later. However, the last two homers were delivered by the Guardians, saving them from a 3-0 series deficit.

For the Yanks, it was yet another soul-crushing playoff loss in Cleveland. Here are the moments that demonstrate why Progressive Field is a house of horrors for New York.

2024 ALCS Game 3: (Big) Christmas comes early for Guardians
The Yankees must have thought they had delivered knockout blows when sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton went back-to-back against Cleveland’s elite closer, Emmanuel Clase, in the eighth inning of Game 3. Judge’s line-drive shot tied the game before Stanton walloped a slider to completely take the air out of the stadium. The Yanks even added an insurance run in the ninth on a Gleyber Torres sacrifice fly.

But Cleveland had its own heavyweight waiting to punch back. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, manager Stephen Vogt sent rookie Jhonkensy Noel — the man known as Big Christmas — to the plate representing the tying run. The 6-foot-3, 250-pounder unloaded on a pitch from Yankees closer Luke Weaver, and he punctuated his game-saving homer with a sweet bat flip.

“I still don’t know how Jhonkensy hit a homer off [Weaver],” Fry said after the game. “That was such a cool at-bat. What a win.”

2017 ALDS Game 2: Lindor lifts off
Corey Kluber was the American League’s best pitcher in 2017, but before he claimed his second Cy Young Award, he had a couple of rough postseason starts versus the Yankees. The first one came in ALDS Game 2 as New York tagged him for six runs in 2 2/3 innings. By the end of the fifth inning, the Yankees held an 8-3 lead.

But what looked like it might be a blowout changed on one swing in the sixth. That’s when Cleveland’s 23-year-old star shortstop, Francisco Lindor, came to the plate with the bases loaded. The club’s young leader responded by hammering a pitch off the right-field foul pole for a grand slam. Cleveland tied the game in the eighth on a Jay Bruce homer and ultimately won it in 13 innings. But New York got the last laugh as it dug out of that 2-0 hole in the best-of-five series and got to Kluber again in the winner-take-all finale to earn a trip to the ALCS.

2007 ALDS Game 2: Attack of the midges
It is simply known as the “Bug Game.” When Yankees rookie reliever Joba Chamberlain went to the mound for the eighth inning with the Yanks ahead, 1-0, he packed his power fastball and slider. Little did he know that he also needed to bring vinegar or dryer sheets, too. Only later did the right-hander learn that’s how to fight off a swarm of midges — small, mosquito-like insects from nearby Lake Erie that invaded what was then known as Jacobs Field on an unseasonably warm October night.

Chamberlain swatted. He waved. He applied bug spray. It was all for naught. The midges remained all over him and seemed to wreak havoc on his focus. Although he made it through the inning, Chamberlain gave up the tying run thanks to two walks, two wild pitches and a hit-by-pitch. Cleveland won the game in the 11th and eventually captured the series, three games to one.

“Just when you think you’ve seen it all,” Derek Jeter said at the time. “That’s home-field advantage.”

1997 ALDS Game 4: Alomar Jr. proves Mariano is mortal
Mariano Rivera allowed only two home runs through 141 postseason innings during his legendary career. To put that in perspective, remember that the aforementioned and dominant Clase did that in the span of two batters. It was nearly impossible to score off of Rivera in October. But one of those two dingers came during just his second postseason save opportunity in his first season as New York’s unquestioned closer.

With the defending champion Yankees four outs away from reaching the ALCS again, Rivera surrendered a game-tying solo shot to catcher Sandy Alomar Jr., who drove an up-and-away cutter over the right-field wall. Alomar raised his arms in triumph while the Yankees were left wondering what just happened. Cleveland celebrated a walk-off victory one inning later and won the series the next night with another one-run win at Jacobs Field.