Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images

The road through the Fall Classic runs through the Bronx. Juan Soto’s three-run homer in the tenth inning proved the dagger as the New York Yankees won Game 5 of the ALCS 5-2 and clinched the American League Pennant.

And, of course, it was a come-from-behind victory. The Cleveland Guardians could only watch.

New York struggled to score for half of the game while Cleveland chipped away. Lefty Carlos Rodon took the mound again after winning Game 1, but the Guardians were prepared this time. Bo Naylor doubled his brother Josh home in the second inning and Steven Kwan added an RBI single in the fifth.

Rodon was done after 4.2 innings, while Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee dominated through 5.2 innings. The Guardians led 2-0 with two outs in the sixth before Giancarlo Stanton stepped up.

A 446-foot laser later, the game was tied.

Postseason ball loves drama, so the rest of the game was tight. Cleveland would get someone on base, cue a timely double play or strikeout. Tim Hill continued his dominant run out of the Yankee ‘pen with 1.1 scoreless innings. Jake Cousins faced five batters and struck out four of them.

Luke Weaver worked a quick ninth, and the stage was set in the 10th inning with hard-throwing Hunter Gaddis pitching for the Guardians. Anthony Volpe lined out before Austin Wells worked a walk, then Alex Verdugo grounded to second base. It looked like a surefire double-play, but Bryan Rocchio failed to field the toss from Andres Gimenez.

Gleyber Torres struck out, and the man himself took his spot in the batter’s box. Gaddis got ahead of Soto in the count, 1-2, before Soto fouled off the next three pitches. A hung fastball later, the Yankees had a three-run lead.

Three outs later, Soto caught the final out off the bat of Logan Thomas. Ballgame over, Yankees win.

Next stop: World Series

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Josh Benjamin
Josh Benjamin has been a staff writer at ESNY since 2018. He has had opinions about everything, especially the Yankees and Knicks. He co-hosts the “Bleacher Creatures” podcast and is always looking for new pieces of sports history to uncover, usually with a Yankee Tavern chicken parm sub in hand.

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