Yankees vs. Guardians: New York’s bats roll, Cleveland’s bullpen fails as the Yankees take a 3-1 lead in the ALCS

CLEVELAND – The sixth inning came in Game 4 of the ALCS between the Yankees and Guardians, and once again it was rookie right-hander Cade Smith’s turn to pitch for Cleveland.

For the third time in three games, Smith was called upon by manager Stephen Vogt to manage the monster in the middle of New York’s batting order: Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. On paper, it’s a tall order for any reliever, but Smith’s sensational debut campaign as Cleveland’s game-changing bullpen ace had inspired plenty of confidence that the hard-throwing 25-year-old would be up to the challenge, albeit on multiple occasions.

“He’s the best strikeout reliever we have, and in this situation I trust Cade to make throws there,” manager Stephen Vogt said afterward. “He does it all year round.”

In Game 2 in the Bronx, Smith entered the second inning facing Judge with the bases loaded after Vogt Soto intentionally walked with first base open and one out. Smith held Judge to a sac fly before striking out Austin Wells to end the frame and eliciting a groundout from Stanton in the following inning.

In Game 3 on Thursday – a few innings before the unforgettable rollercoaster ride really began – Smith entered the game with a one-run lead in the sixth and retired Soto, Judge and Stanton after 10 pitches, including a strikeout by Judge with a gnarled splitter .

On Friday in Game 4, which the Yankees ultimately won 8-6, a similar task presented itself: Soto again led off the sixth, followed by Judge, new cleanup hitter Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Stanton if a baserunner beat him should achieve. This time Cleveland trailed by one, with Smith coming in hoping to stop New York’s best bats from extending their lead.

That didn’t happen. Soto issued a five-pitch walk to get out of bounds. Judge followed with a quick single to left. Chisholm’s sacrifice moved them to second and third. All of this resulted in Stanton and his team-leading OPS coming to the plate with one out and two in scoring position.

Smith offered up four fastballs in a row – all four-seaters that normally average 96 mph but that night maxed out at 94 mph – and with the score at 1-2, Stanton drilled a no-doubt shot in left center field, which made the score 6-2 Yankees.

With each passing play and each subsequent trot from the bullpen to plunge headfirst into the pressure cooker that is baseball’s postseason, the relievers begin to tire. At the same time, with each additional look at weapons they rarely get multiple tackles against in the regular season, hitters begin to build confidence and comfort. This dynamic is exaggerated when the hitters involved are already among the best in the league under all circumstances, as is the case with the Yankees’ top hitters.

Soto, Judge and Stanton are simply too talented, too meticulous in their craft, too brilliant in their execution to allow themselves to be fooled or overwhelmed by the same pitcher over and over again. That was evident Friday as Smith suffered the effects of overuse and overuse against baseball’s best.

“That’s what the Yankees do really well,” Vogt said afterward. “They have a really good approach against the pitchers and then they get throws over the middle. They don’t miss it, and they’ve really capitalized on it.”

However, Smith’s rare collapse – only the second time this season he allowed three earned runs in an outing – didn’t sink the Guardians. As always, Cleveland managed to get back into the game. It wasn’t particularly pretty, but the scoreboard continued to trend in the Guardians’ favor. Seventh-inning doubles by José Ramírez and Josh Naylor against Clay Holmes — speaking of tired relievers — closed the deficit to just one run.

In the eighth inning, the run-scoring performance was far sillier. With Bo Naylor on third, David Fry hit a soft bouncer back toward pitcher Mark Leiter Jr., who tried to pick up the ball and throw it to first baseman Anthony Rizzo for the out, but instead sent it past Rizzo’s waiting glove and through his Legs fumbled, allowing Naylor to score the game-winning run.

In terms of style, it was the exact opposite of Jhonkensy Noel’s majestic, game-winning smash from the night before, and yet it counted: the Guardians had equalized and given themselves a chance to claim another stunning win.

“It would have been really easy if Cade had given up the three-run home run so we could just get out and walk away, but that’s not what this group does,” Vogt said. “…We have a chance to swing the bat and win the game. That’s what this team is.”

But a possible victory would first require an attempt at redemption for closer Emmanuel Clase.

Unlike Smith, who had been great in every way until Friday’s misstep, Clase was in the midst of a stunning October funk entering Game 4. One night he was stopped from giving up back-to-back home runs to Judge and Stanton, which gave the Yankees a then-shocking lead that Clase’s resilient teammates eventually reclaimed. Those back-to-back devastating high-leverage blows, coupled with his erratic form in the final round against Detroit, have made Clase’s spectacular regular season – one of the best campaigns ever by a reserve player – seem like a distant memory.

However, Game 4 seemed to be a favorable situation for Clase to regain some confidence. He didn’t get into the middle of an inning with a runner already on base — something he’s faced several times this month after not doing so once during the regular season — but rather around the ninth inning with a clean one vest to start. After Cleveland gained some momentum with the chaotic sequence to tie the game, it was up to Clase to keep the points at bay against the bottom of New York’s lineup.

Still, it didn’t take long for the Yankees to get some traffic. Anthony Rizzo and Anthony Volpe each hit a single to the second cutter they saw, and the Yankees were immediately in business. Putting back-to-back baserunners against Clase in July or August was a monumental challenge for opponents. In October it somehow became commonplace.

That was followed by a Volpe steal, an uncharacteristic error by shortstop Brayan Rocchio and a single by Gleyber Torres, which combined to add two more runs to the All-Star closer’s postseason list. For the third time this month, Clase was on the mound while his team suddenly found itself behind due to throws he had thrown. Despite not allowing another stunning game, Clase let another game slip, opening another door for the opposition after slamming it shut for six months.

And this time his teammates couldn’t catch him as a comeback effort at the end of the ninth failed.

Clase, along with Smith, starred in a bullpen that was Cleveland’s definitive superpower in October. It’s a group that still has the depth to shine through on occasion – Hunter Gaddis looked great on Friday – but is undoubtedly firing on all cylinders overall, and New York’s lineup has capitalized accordingly.

It’s always a good sign for the Yankees when Soto, Judge and Stanton punish opposing pitchers like they did against Smith in Game 6. But for a lineup that has been brutally top-heavy for much of the year, rallies fueled by players like Rizzo, Volpe and Torres against a closer like Clase are particularly promising developments, even in his weakened state.

Early in Game 4, rookie catcher Austin Wells hit a home run to center field for his first hit in the LCS and first extra-base hit of the postseason after starting 2-2 on October 26. Wells was red-hot over the summer, with a .303/.389/.549 line in July and August that put him in the AL Rookie of the Year conversation. But an icy September lasted into the postseason, reducing the threat of his bat in the middle of the Yankees’ lineup at a time when every at-bat carries significant significance. Wells isn’t alone in his offensive woes as a backstop this October – LCS teams’ catchers hit a combined .130/.201/.163 as of Friday – but if he can regain his mid-summer form, this could be a game-changer in the offense.

Make no mistake: Soto, Judge and Stanton still need to run this train. But if New York wants to advance and compete against a Mets or Dodgers team that has far more offensive power than Cleveland, the contributions of the rest of the lineup will be paramount. For the Yankees, Game 4 was a step in the right direction in that regard.

Saturday’s Game 5 will pit a fully rested Carlos Rodón against a less rested Tanner Bibee. Rodon shined in Game 1, while Bibee only lasted four outs in Game 2. This time, the pressure is on Bibee to cover as many innings as possible so as not to further expose Cleveland’s beleaguered bullpen. That puts Vogt in a particularly difficult position as the Guardians face elimination, a situation in which managers tend to use their bullpens with extreme urgency. After two terribly trying days for the pitching staff, Vogt might not have that luxury; Bibee must deliver or this series could be completed in a hurry.

Meanwhile, the Yankees are one win away from the Fall Classic, with an offense that seems to be getting more impressive by the day – a development that could be the difference between New York’s first World Series success since 2009 and an actual victory his first title in 15 years.