DJ LEMAHIEU hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the ninth inning off Brad Hand and the visiting New York Yankees outlasted the Cleveland Indians for a wild 10-9 victory Wednesday night to sweep a best-of-three American League wild-card series.
The Yankees advance to the American League Division Series to face the Tampa Bay Rays, who beat New York in eight of 10 regular-season meetings. The series will start Monday in San Diego.
Down 9-8 entering the ninth, New York loaded the bases on a walk and two singles before Hand (0-1) got an out. Hand struck out Brett Gardner but lost the lead when Gary Sanchez lifted a sacrifice fly to center field.
LeMahieu fell behind in the count 0-2 on a pair of fastballs before Hand threw the major league batting leader a slider, and the second baseman hit it up the middle just out the reach of second baseman Cesar Hernandez.
The comeback came after Aroldis Chapman (1-0) allowed a bloop single to Hernandez that gave Cleveland a 9-8 lead in the eighth.
Chapman recovered from Hernandez’s hit to strike out Jose Ramirez and get Carlos Santana to ground into an inning-ending double play. In the bottom of the ninth, Chapman struck out pinch hitter Austin Hedges with a runner on first to secure the win.
New York overcame an early 4-0 deficit but blew leads of 6-4 and 8-6 before LeMahieu’s clutch hit.
Cleveland forged an 8-8 tie when Jordan Luplow batted for Josh Naylor in the seventh and lifted a two-run double off Jonathan Loaisiga.
The Yankees held an 8-6 lead after Sanchez’s two-run homer off Triston McKenzie just cleared the right field wall in the sixth. Sanchez’s homer occurred after Jose Ramirez evened the game at 6-6 on a two-run double down the right field line off Chad Green in the fifth.
Green entered after Masahiro Tanaka opened the inning by allowing a double to Francisco Lindor and walking Hernandez.
The Yankees rallied from a four-run deficit after the first inning, getting a solo homer from Giancarlo Stanton in the second and a grand slam from Gio Urshela off James Karinchek in the fourth right after Carlos Carrasco was lifted.
Stanton’s sacrifice fly in the fifth made it 6-4.
The game was interrupted by two delays due to the threat of rain and actual rain. The first pitch was delayed 43 minutes and the game was halted for 33 minutes after Ramirez’s double gave Cleveland a 1-0 lead in the first.
The Indians added three more runs in the first inning after the second delay on a two-run double by Naylor and an RBI single by Roberto Perez.
Tanaka allowed six runs on five hits in four-plus innings.
Carrasco allowed four runs on two hits in three-plus innings. — Reuters
