Watch: Guardians’ pitching change backfires in a huge way in ALCS Game 3

Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton came up huge for the New York Yankees against Emmanuel Clase late in ALCS Game 3 against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday night.

Reliever Hunter Gaddis began the top of the eighth inning looking to protect a 3-1 Guardians lead. He got two outs and then walked Juan Soto to bring up Judge. Cleveland decided to make a pitching change and bring in closer Clase, but that plan backfired.

Judge was down 1-2 in the count against Clase but connected on a line drive to the opposite field that sailed out of the park for a tying two-run home run.

ALLLLLLLLLL RISE!

AARON JUDGE GAME-TYING HOME RUN pic.twitter.com/P2tQxBItoi

— MLB (@MLB) October 17, 2024

As if that weren’t enough, Stanton joined in on the fun.

Stanton hammered a 1-2 pitch to right-center for a tiebreaking solo home run.

BIG G
BIG HOMER
OH MY GOODNESS
THE @YANKEES LEAD pic.twitter.com/BrYT6NYMsv

— MLB (@MLB) October 17, 2024

The Yankees sluggers completely changed the game. The team went from down 3-1 to up 4-3 in a matter of two swings.

That was Judge’s second home run of the postseason. The home run was Stanton’s third of the postseason, as he also had homers earlier this series and against the Royals in the ALDS. Both players were up to 6 RBI on the postseason following those home runs.

As for Clase, this is the second time this postseason that he has blown a game. He also gave up a huge three-run home run to Kerry Carpenter in Game 2 of the ALDS.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.