Yankees rally in ninth to send Tribe packing
Rays next for New York; Astros eliminate Twins
CLEVELAND — D.J. Lemahieu’s tiebreaking
RBI single in the ninth inning off Cleveland closer Brad Hand sent the New York Yankees into an American League division series with a wild 10-9 win over the Indians early Thursday in a rain-delayed Game 2 that started in September and ended in October.
At 4 hours, 50 minutes — even without the delays — it was the longest nine-inning game (regular season or postseason) in major league history.
Lemahieu, the AL batting champion, grounded his hit into center field to score Gio Urshela, who hit a go-ahead grand slam in the fourth. Down 9-8, the Yankees tied it in the ninth on Gary Sanchez’s sacrifice fly off Hand, who went 16 of 16 on save tries during the season.
The Yankees stumbled into the postseason. But their heavy-hitting lineup came alive over two nights in chilly, empty Progressive Field. New York pounded Cleveland ace Shane Bieber in the opener, and now the Yankees — who hit seven homers in the two games — have found their swing as the calendar flips to the month that defines them.
They’ll play Tampa Bay in a best-of-five ALDS in San Diego next week.
Aroldis Chapman got the last six outs for the Yankees, aided by a spectacular play from Urshela at third base to begin an inning-ending double play that kept it a one-run game in the eighth. The Indians got the tying run to first in the ninth on a strikeout passed ball with two outs before Chapman struck out pinch hitter Austin Hedges.
For the Indians, a season of adversity ended with more heartache. They twice rallied to tie the Yankees and took the lead in the eighth on Cesar Hernandez’s bloop RBI single off Chapman only to have Hand give it away.
Cleveland, which hasn’t won the World Series since 1948, has lost eight straight postseason games and dropped 10 consecutive elimination games dating to the 1997 Series.
Sanchez had a two-run homer, and Giancarlo Stanton connected on a solo shot for New York, which was down 4-0 in the first.
Down 8-6 in the seventh, the Indians tied it on pinch hitter Jordan Luplow’s twoout, two-run double off Jonathan Loaisiga.
■ Athletics 5, White Sox 3: At Oakland, Calif., Marcus Semien and Khris Davis homered to back Chris Bassitt, who held Chicago to one run over seven-plus innings, as Oakland tied the series 1-1. The A’s built a 5-0 lead and held on when MVP candidate Jose Abreu hit a hard, bases-loaded groundout to end it.
■ Astros 3, Twins 1: At Minneapolis, Carlos Correa hit a two-out tiebreaking home run in the seventh for Houston, which swept the series and dealt Minnesota a record 18th straight postseason loss. Kyle Tucker hit two RBI singles to back rookie Cristian Javier, who pitched three hitless innings of relief.
■ Rays 8, Blue Jays 2: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Hunter Renfroe hit a grand slam in Tampa Bay’s six-run second as the Rays capped a sweep for their first postseason series win in 12 years. Tyler Glasnow held Toronto to two runs — two home runs by Danny Jansen — in six innings.