CLEVELAND — Shortly after David Fry crushed a walk-off homer for the Guardians in Game 3 of the ALCS, one Yankee after another insisted the team had nothing to worry about. “There’s no doubt we can overcome this and bounce back,” said Clay Holmes, who surrendered the game-ending blast on Thursday. “It’s a resilient group of guys.” That resiliency showed on Friday night, as the Yankees rebounded for an 8-6, Game 4 win at Progressive Field. With one more victory, the team will return to the World Series for the first time since 2009. “Not surprised with these guys,” Aaron Boone said of his team’s response to Game 3. “Obviously, last night was a really tough loss. And whatever happened today, win, lose or draw, there’s no doubt in my mind we’d come out ready to roll, ready to turn the page. “I thought we played an excellent game. Not a perfect game, but a gritty, tough, winning game.” A cast of characters boosted the Bombers’ bounce-back, but it was Giancarlo Stanton who continued to command the spotlight at its brightest. After seeing his dramatic, go-ahead solo homer wasted in Game 3, the designated hitter improved upon his pristine playoff reputation with a three-run homer to left in the sixth inning of Game 4. As Stanton stared at his 404-foot bomb off Cade Smith, he became just the second Yankee to hit at least four home runs in multiple postseasons. Reggie Jackson, nicknamed Mr. October for his postseason prowess, is the only other member of the group. “He did it again,” Boone thought to himself after Stanton smoked what the manager called a “letter-high heater.” “His preparation and his ability to just lock in and focus is impressive,” Boone continued. Pitch to Giancarlo Stanton at your peril. pic.twitter.com/xJsEbTEJUu — Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 19, 2024 Stanton now has 15 home runs and 33 RBI over 35 playoff games. All have come with the Yankees. He also entered Game 4 with the 10th-best OPS (1.003) and wRC+ (166) among players with at least 100 postseason plate appearances. “I just try to get any bit of information I can, any bit of film, all the swings I need,” Stanton said of his ability to thrive under pressure. “I exhaust it. That’s why I’m exhausted after these, and I enjoy that. I enjoy that grind. I need to. You’re not always going to go out there and perform well, but as long as I have all the information I can, I’ll be in a good spot.” While Stanton gave the Yankees a 6-2 lead, others slugged the Guardians earlier in the night. With his team fresh off a brutal loss, Juan Soto set the tone early with a two-run homer off Gavin Williams in the opening inning. Like Stanton, Soto watched his ball as it flew 414 feet. “It’s always good to get the lead early,” Soto said. “Last night was in the past. We tried to forget about it. We focused on today’s game, and that’s what we did as a whole team.” Cleveland got a run back in the bottom of the first when José Ramírez picked up a sac fly, but Austin Wells ripped a solo shot for his first playoff home run in the second inning. The rookie catcher, batting eighth after a 2-for-26 start to his first postseason, found himself batting eighth after becoming the Yankees’ go-to cleanup hitter over the summer. While Boone decided it was finally time to demote Wells in the order — the 25-year-old also struggled in September — the manager simultaneously foreshadowed a breakthrough. “I really do have confidence moving forward,” Boone said before the game. “He’s going to have good at-bats or the right at-bats, and it’s, ‘Boom,’ right away.” Wells also caught Luis Gil, who pitched in his first game since Sept. 28 after not appearing in the ALDS. Following Ramírez’s sac fly, Gil allowed a third-inning single to Josh Naylor. However, the fire-balling righty held the Guardians to those two runs as he gutted through four innings in his postseason debut. “I felt really good out there tonight,” Gil said. “Exciting game. Very excited to be part of it. Very happy with the confidence that the team put in me.” While Stanton opened the game up a few innings after Gil’s departure, Cleveland rallied against Holmes for the second straight night in the seventh. Ramírez and Naylor each had RBI doubles off the former closer. Those made it a one-run game. But Mark Leiter Jr., added to the roster hours earlier in place of the injured Ian Hamilton, stopped the bleeding there for the time being. First he got Jhonkensy Noel, another Guardians Game 3 hero, to fly out. Then Andrés Giménez struck out. “The thing I said to him before the game was you might find yourself in the biggest spot,” Boone said. “He was ready for it, and he delivered.” Leiter, also making his postseason debut, saw his luck change in the eighth when Fry softly grounded a ball toward the first base side of the mound. The reliever knocked it toward the foul line and flipped it to Anthony Rizzo, but the ball went under the first baseman’s mitt, allowing Bo Naylor to score a game-tying run from third. “I overran it a little bit,” Leiter said. “I knew it was going to be one of those in-between plays, and I wanted to beat it to the spot, and I kind of overstepped it, so it hit my foot. Tried to stay composed, make a quick flip, but that’s just a tough play. You’re so close to each other. It’s just one of those plays where I probably got to a blind spot for him a little bit.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME YANKEES… pic.twitter.com/iuFtKGbpas — Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken2) October 19, 2024 Fortunately for the Yankees, they channeled more resiliency in the ninth, as Emmanuel Clase also failed his team for the second game in a row. Rizzo and Anthony Volpe each singled off the closer, and the shortstop swiped second. Rizzo scored when Brayan Rocchio botched an Alex Verdugo grounder, while Volpe crossed the plate on a Gleyber Torres single. Having blown a sizeable lead themselves, the Yankees completed their own comeback when Tommy Kahnle worked around traffic in the ninth. “No lead is safe,” Stanton said. “It’s a great team over there, but it’s just important to keep pushing. That shows that we need every single person on our team to contribute in some way, and we’re going to need everybody. They answered the bell. It’s a wave. It’s a roller coaster. But yeah, it was good to come out on top today.” With Game 4 in the books, the Yankees now have a 3-1 lead in the series. With Game 5 set for Saturday night in Cleveland, the Yankees will ask Carlos Rodón to make his first road start of these playoffs. The lefty dominated the Guardians in Game 1 of the series, holding them to one run and three hits while walking none and striking out nine over six innings. Tanner Bibee will start for Cleveland after also pitching Game 1. He’ll be looking for a longer outing after only lasting 1.1 innings that night. The Yankees, meanwhile, will look to celebrate a pennant in enemy territory before enjoying some down time prior to the World Series. “It feels like nothing until we get it done,” Stanton said of being so close to the Fall Classic. “As far as I’m concerned, we haven’t done nothing. We’ll enjoy this for now, but we’ve got to get it done tomorrow, and on to the next.”