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    • Giancarlo Stanton leads the Yankees to ALDS Game 3 victory over the Royals
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    Giancarlo Stanton leads the Yankees to ALDS Game 3 victory over the Royals

    Madoc Meredith Posted on

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    KANSAS CITY, Mo. – On the one-month (and three-day) anniversary of Luke Weaver’s admittedly out-of-body first save of his career, the right-hander recorded the five biggest outs of the Yankees season.

    After Giancarlo Stanton clinched the best-of-five Game 3 of the AL Division Series on Wednesday night with a monster solo home run in the eighth, Weaver secured a 3-2 win over the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

    Now Gerrit Cole will try to send the Yankees to the AL Championship Series – against either Cleveland or Detroit – with a win in Game 4 on Thursday night against Michael Wacha.

    Three more outs

    Did you think Bobby Witt Jr. (single, 1-for-12 in the ALDS) would try to steal second base from Salvy Perez with two outs and one lead? We did it.

    But Witt Jr. stood his ground and when Perez hit a single up the middle, it was first and third (not a game-winning RBI single). Next, Yuli Gurriel flew out to end the eighth game against Luke Weaver and it’s still 3-2, Amis.

    Here comes the top of the Yankees batting order against Michael Lorenzen.

    One and done (in the 8th)

    Aaron Boone obviously liked the duel between Tommy Kahnle and Michael Massey, choosing a Kahnle substitution to open the Royals’ round of 16…

    …and here comes Luke Weaver trying to make a five-out save at Kauffman Stadium. First up is Bobby Witt Jr.

    Not yet, Luke

    Okay, so instead of moving closer to Luke Weaver now that the top of the Royals’ standings are approaching and there are still six outs left for a Game 3 win, Boone will stick with Kahnle to start the eighth.

    Weaver was warming up and was probably ready. Let’s see what happens next…

    Giancarlo takes over

    Stanton has just hit a 3-1 pitch from left-hander Kris Bubic 417 feet over the field wall in left-center, and here in the eighth the Yankees are 3-2.

    When healthy, Stanton has saved his best for the postseason as a Yankee, and tonight he’s 3-for-4 with a double, a STOLEN BASE and now a home run in a huge spot.

    Aaron Judge vs. Brady Singer

    A big moment for Aaron Judge is coming.

    Juan Soto drew a two-out walk, and now comes Royals starter Brady Singer, who became the ALDS reliever…

    And judge dismisses full charge on first-base appeal — crew chief Mark Carlson said he went too far.

    Judge was ready to go to first base, shaking his head ruefully, Aaron Boone was fuming in the dugout and the Yankees captain is now 1-for-11 with zero RBI in the series.

    Clay art pieces

    The build-up work suits Clay Holmes quite well.

    Holmes retired four of the five Royals he faced (Bobby Witt Jr. walked) and went scoreless in four innings, appearing in all three ALDS games so far. Still 2-2 after six.

    Giancarlo Stanton just stole second base

    No, it’s not a line from 2014.

    They paid him no mind (who would?), and Stanton (2-for-3) easily grabbed his first base of the year, giving the Yanks two outs and Volpe a runner in scoring position in the sixth.

    Since Opening Day 2019, Stanton had a stolen base in two attempts through tonight. Either way, backup John Schreiber and the Royals kept the Yanks off the field.

    New ballgame, new Yankees pitcher

    KC tied it 2-2 in the fifth period and here comes Clay Holmes to replace Clarke Schmidt. OK, should Holmes have been in a batter earlier to face the top-ranked Royals?

    After a two-out infield single by Adam Frazier and an RBI double by No. 9 hitter Kyle Isbel off the left field corner wall, Holmes was warming up.

    Boone stuck with Schmidt, who gave up a game-winning RBI triple to leadoff man Michael Massey after Juan Soto, no Gold Glover in the right field, survived a diving attempt.

    Brand new game and it got LOUD here at Kauffman. And somewhere on the suite level, in the Royals’ home jersey, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is cheering like crazy.

    Are we The much closer to a Subway series?

    How about the Mets slay another dragon and move on to the NLCS?

    And here in KC the Yanks have a 2-0 lead thanks to a bases loaded sac fly by Juan Soto.

    Royals starter Seth Lugo lost at the plate and issued walks to Oswaldo Cabrera (2nd walk of the game) and Gleyber Torres (5th walk of the series) after Anthony Volpe hit a leadoff single that set up Soto.

    With runners on the corners, Aaron Judge flew out to end the inning. He is 1 of 10 in the ALDS, Bobby Witt Jr. is 0 of 12.

    The Yankees strike first

    With two outs in the fourth, Giancarlo Stanton hit a double off the left-center field wall to score Juan Soto (walk) for a 1-0 lead.

    It’s the Yanks’ first run against Lugo in the last 10.2 innings since Seth Lugo’s great start on Sept. 10 at Yankee Stadium.

    Foul…or fair by a blade of grass?

    Third inning and already a controversial call. Make two controversial decisions as Gleyber Torres’ blunder to the right of the field was ruled a foul and supported by the referees in the video room.

    Just the ball could hit a blade or two of white, chalk-lined grass – that’s how Aaron Boone and the Yankees’ dugout felt, and it could have meant a run since Oswaldo Cabrera scored from first base.

    Either way, the Royals faithful cheered at the “foul” call and Torres gave them another scare when he flew into the right field warning lane. Still scoreless as we head to the KC third point.

    And we have outfield umpires

    By the way, this is why they add foul line umps in the postseason (tonight is Ryan Blakney), but how many times have we even seen missed calls?

    A reference: See Garcia, Richie and the 1996 ALCS Jeffrey Maier homer by Derek Jeter.

    Clarke Schmidt is getting hard

    After Yuli Gurriel narrowly missed a one-out solo home run and settled for a double off the left field wall, Clarke Schmidt struck out MJ Melendez with a curveball and gave Maikel Garcia (4 hits in Game 2) a groundout, leading to the second game ended the inning.

    All that booing for jazz

    Royals fans didn’t like Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s “You got lucky” quote after Kansas City’s Game 2 win.

    The sellout crowd loudly booed his pregame introduction and his at-bat intro and jeered him before every pitch — until they cheered his groundout that ended the Yanks’ second inning.

    First inning noise, but nothing else

    After walking early in Games 1 and 2, Gleyber Torres went after Seth Lugo’s first pitch and grounded out, then Juan Soto flied out to center field and Aaron Judge – again trying to change his October mojo – got moving with a nice jumping grabby Bobby Witt Jr.

    Here at the K are the “MV-P” chants for Witt Jr., who gave the crowd a thrill by flying to the right field lane against Clarke Schmidt. Witt Jr. is now 0 of 11 in the ALDS.

    Yankees Game 3 lineup: Oswaldo Cabrera is back

    Manager Aaron Boone made a slight lineup adjustment for Game 3, returning Oswaldo Cabrera to first base.

    This provides more left-right balance against Kansas City right-hander Seth Lugo, who had a number for the Yanks on September 10th (7 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 10 K).

    “I thought about it a little bit and just felt like (Cabrera) was the right guy for today,” Boone said. So Jon Berti – who played first base well in Game 2 – sat on the bench.

    Clarke Schmidt will get the ball for his first-ever playoff start (he made three postseason appearances as a backup in 2022), and Luis Gil will be in line after Schmidt for extended periods if needed.

    “Yeah, he’s really confident,” Boone said of Schmidt. “But he’s really good.”

    1. Gleyber Torres, 2B
    2. Juan Soto, RF
    3. Aaron Judge, CF
    4. Austin Wells, C
    5. Giancarlo Stanton, DH
    6. Jazz Chisholm Jr., 3B
    7. Anthony Volpe, SS
    8. Oswaldo Cabrera, 1B
    9. Alex Verdugo, LF

    We’re looking forward to Game 4

    Game 4 on Wednesday night will feature a rematch of Game 1 between KC’s Gerrit Cole and Michael Wacha.

    Cole said he wanted to “improve some of the things that kind of hurt in his last start,” when he scored four runs (three earned) in five innings.

    “(I) continue to try to be as efficient as possible and give our team the best chance to win.”

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    Madoc Meredith
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