The Yankees were walked off by Oscar Gonzalez, and the young Cleveland Guardians are one win away from the ALCS.
Gonzalez, the same rookie who hit a walk-off home run against the Tampa Bay Rays to move on to the ALDS in the first place, defeated the Yankees with a single up the middle in the ninth inning of Game 3.
The Guardians rally was all thanks to some tragic bullpen management from Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who likely felt he couldn’t pitch Clay Holmes two games in a row this fresh off an injury. The arms New York did go to simply failed, with Clarke Schmidt as the final victim after a mid-inning change.
Gonzalez and Cleveland are the youngest team in all of baseball, and in some ways don’t know any better. In this moment, it worked to their advantage.
Yankees lose in painful fashion, trolled by rivals
The Yanks actually made the wrong kind of MLB history on Saturday night.
The New York Yankees were 167-0 in postseason history when leading by multiple runs entering the ninth inning- until tonight.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 16, 2022
Somehow, Boone found a way, and the Yanks lost to a rookie with the Spongebob theme song as his walk-up tune.
Too bad about the Yankees.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) October 16, 2022
When the Yankees see the Mets in Cancun pic.twitter.com/tajpA5Y0Wk
— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) October 16, 2022
Yankees Suck chant bellowing through downtown Cleveland.
— Nick Pedone (@NickPedone12) October 16, 2022
Why do the Yankees keep trying to call me? pic.twitter.com/MkpelVE4xX
— Legion Sports Management (@thelegionsm) October 16, 2022
Yankees lost pic.twitter.com/kcHmyQn0tN
— Piñata Farms: The Meme App (@pinatafarms) October 16, 2022
SPONGEBOB IS A CLEVELAND HERO 🤩#RepBX #ForTheLand #Yankees #Guardians #Postseason
— Legion Sports Management (@thelegionsm) October 16, 2022
pic.twitter.com/kbPe8PwlFh
That is a brutal brutal gut punch loss for the Yankees.
— Ryan Ruocco (@RyanRuocco) October 16, 2022
The Yankees and Alabama both lose in walk-off fashion.
— Indianapolis Indians (@indyindians) October 16, 2022
Tough day for Lakers fans.
Yankees fans rn: pic.twitter.com/2ghfAolq8T
— FanDuel (@FanDuel) October 16, 2022
No, YOU keep a Twitter list of Yankees fans just for moments like these pic.twitter.com/cOEXpEql24
— glenjamin (@glenjaminc) October 16, 2022
AND THE MAN WITH THE NICKNAME "SPONGEBOB" WINS IT FOR THE GUARDIANS AGAIN!!
— TRAFON(s Backup Account) (@RiseFallNickBck) October 16, 2022
VIOLENCE ROAD FOR THE YANKEES!! pic.twitter.com/38U1BPwnFo
— Boston Strong (@BostonStrong_34) October 16, 2022
With the loss, New York is now just one more bad result away from elimination. Gerrit Cole will take the bump on Sunday in a win-or-go-home scenario. That’s why they pay him the big bucks, but at this point Yankees fans can’t be too confident in Cole or their bullpen, even against Cleveland.