CLEVELAND — After a few current closers imploded on Thursday, a former finisher did the same when David Fry smoked a two-run, walk-off homer off Clay Holmes in the 10th inning of Game 3 of the ALCS. The game-ending bomb followed a leadoff single from Bo Naylor and came on a 1-2 count with the Yankees just one out away from a 3-0 lead in the ALCS. Instead of putting themselves a win away from the World Series, they left Progressive Field in defeat as Fry bounced around the bases. “Probably just got a little quick there with the sinker and threw it to probably the one spot I couldn’t throw it,” Holmes said after the 7-5 loss. “If it’s a good sinker, down and away, down below the zone, I mean really down, it’s probably a more favorable outcome.” DAVID FRY! BALLGAME! #WALKOFF pic.twitter.com/XzBsU8LKrR — MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2024 Holmes, stripped of the Yankees’ closing gig in early September, made his grave mistake after Luke Weaver, the club’s current close, made one of his own. That came in the ninth, as Jhonkensy Noel demolished Weaver’s changeup to tie the game. That two-run bomb was the second home run Weaver has allowed in as many outings. It also came with the Yankees one out away from a win and after Lane Thomas doubled on a 3-2 count. “Just gotta execute,” Weaver said. “Just really felt like I let the team down there, myself down. It’s baseball, and things like that happen. A twist of an arm, and it feels a little devastating. But at the end of the day, you gotta bounce back. We’re still in a good position. We felt like there’s some momentum there, but they earned it. It was a crazy game. The bats were hot, and the ball was flying out of the park.” “I just gotta flush it.” Asked how one does that — Thursday marked the first blown save of Weaver’s short closing career — the righty said, “I got no choice” before adding, “It’s easier said than done.” With their past and present closers serving up cataclysmic home runs, the Yankees wasted a clutch performance against the Guardians’ own ninth-inning man. Before Cleveland won the wild game, Emmanuel Clase tried for a four-out save in his first appearance of the ALCS. The Bombers, trailing 3-1, had mustered just one run against lefty starter Matthew Boyd and a few of Cleveland’s high-leverage relievers, and Clase had allowed just five earned runs all season while saving 47 games. Those numbers didn’t matter to Aaron Judge in the eighth. With Juan Soto working a walk against Hunter Gaddis, Judge lined a 1-2 cutter off Clase for a two-run homer. As the game-tying drive barely cleared Progressive Field’s right field wall, Judge hooted and pumped his arms. Meanwhile, the Yankees’ dugout spilled onto the field after Judge’s second home run in as many postseason games following a long October power outage. “I thought it was too low,” Judge said of his wall-scraper. “I thought I was gonna hit it off the wall.” ALLLLLLLLLL RISE! AARON JUDGE GAME-TYING HOME RUN pic.twitter.com/P2tQxBItoi — MLB (@MLB) October 17, 2024 The Yankees’ bench had a similar reaction one batter later, as Giancarlo Stanton belted a go-ahead blast of his own off Clase, who surrendered just two homers during the regular season. With Stanton hitting his third of the postseason, the Yankees celebrated before Cleveland slugged its way back. “It’s the playoffs,” said Aaron Boone, who pumped his fist as the Yankees rallied. “You have tying runs and go and hit homers, that’s what it looks like. You never have anything in the bag in the playoffs. You never take anything for granted, but you’re going to celebrate big moments all the time like that.” Added Stanton: “That’s the crazy game we play. It’s never over until the last out.” With the Yankees now up 2-1 in the series, a few players downplayed the significance of losing such a big game in such a devastating way. “This one obviously stings a bit more, but at the end of the day, an L is an L,” Stanton said, echoing a sentiment shared by Judge. Boone said the loss “sucks,” but the skipper also called Game 3 a “classic” while insisting his Yankees will be ready to play on Friday. “Amazing game to witness,” Boone said. “That was playoff baseball. Both sides just kept coming with haymakers and big at-bats, big moments off of two really good bullpens. They outlasted us tonight. They had one more good swing than us. “That’s part of it. We’ll be ready to roll tomorrow.” Weaver, however, said that Thursday’s loss “hurts a little more” than a normal one might. “It all stinks,” the veteran, an unsuccessful starter before this season, continued. “It hurts more knowing how close we were and how big a 3-0 would be. But that’s life. I’ve been through plenty of failure to know that it’s not always how we want it to be. But I know my teammates got my back, and I know we’re going to come out swinging and we’re going to come out firing on the mound.” In between all the drama, the Yankees added a run in the ninth on a Gleyber Torres sac fly. That followed a bizarre baserunning play that saw Anthony Volpe get into a rundown before crashing into José Ramírez on his way to third. Ramírez dropped the ball as the two collided, giving the Yankees two runners in scoring position with nobody out. Jose Trevino also picked up an RBI single in the second inning. However, the not-so-fleet of foot catcher, playing for the first time since the Bombers’ regular season finale, was then picked off by Boyd. Cleveland rode Boyd’s left arm for the first five innings. While he walked three batters, he only permitted two hits while striking out four over 75 pitches. Meanwhile, Yankees’ starter Clarke Schmidt made a costly pitch in the third inning when Kyle Manzardo crushed a two-run homer 395 feet to right. Schmidt missed his spot, leaving a sinker over the heart of the plate with Trevino setting up outside. “I thought Clarke was pretty good,” Boone said. “He was battling a little bit with his command, but overall I thought he managed contact really well.” Schmidt didn’t allow any other runs over 4.2 innings, but the Yankees found themselves in a tough spot in the sixth when Ian Hamilton exited with left calf tightness after covering first base on a groundball. Tim Mayza then entered the game, resulting in an Andrés Giménez RBI single after Lane Thomas stole third. Now looking for a bounce-back, the Yankees will turn to Luis Gil in Game 4 on Friday. The Rookie of the Year contender has not pitched in an official game since his last start of the regular season on Sept. 28. Gil did throw about 70 pitches over four innings in a simulated game at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 13. He faced a mix of big league and minor league hitters that day, and he’s also thrown a bullpen since. Gavin Williams will take the ball for the Guardians. Like Gil, Williams did not pitch in the ALDS. The Yankees, in need of a rebound, are hoping to rudely welcome the righty back to game action. “It’s 2-1 now, so can’t dwell on it,” Judge said of Thursday’s loss. “Can’t mope, can’t hang our head. We still got a lot of ballgames to play.”