2022 MLB Playoffs: Yankees advance to face Astros with Game 5 win vs. Guardians

By Deesha Thosar
FOX Sports MLB Writer

NEW YORK — Tuesday marked one week of the Yankees-Guardians ALDS. All other division series were wrapped in five days (within three or four games). But this ALDS persisted through a scheduled off-day following Game 1, then a rainout, then three games in three days across two different cities and then another rainout. Finally, seven days later, the series reached its conclusion.

The Yankees, playing their fifth game in 13 days, beat the Guardians 5-1 in Game 5 on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. The Bronx Bombers advanced to face the well-rested Houston Astros in the ALCS, which begins Wednesday at Minute Maid Park. In the top of the ninth inning Tuesday, fans chanted: "We want Houston!"

"If you want to get to the World Series, you gotta go through Houston," Aaron Judge said afterward. "They’ve always been in the way."

This marks the Yankees’ fourth postseason series against the Astros. New York has been defeated by Houston in each of its three previous playoff matchups, including the 2015 Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium, the 2017 ALCS and the 2019 ALCS. After Game 5, flipping the script was priority No. 1, as players cut their champagne celebrations short and got locked back in on the tough road ahead.

"You can’t take the past into it," Harrison Bader said of facing Houston. "It’s too heavy. There’s no point. You gotta focus on the present, and what we have in front of us is a really good Astros team that deserves to be there. But on this side, what we’re focused on, we’ve got the same level of expertise. So we’ll play our game." 

In some ways, Tuesday's winner-take-all game was decided well before the first pitch — when Cleveland opted to stick with right-hander Aaron Civale as the Game 5 starter, despite the extra day to rework the rotation. Civale, who recorded a 4.92 ERA in 20 regular-season outings and was making his first start in nearly two weeks, faced just five Yankees batters before his night was over.

One of those five batters violently clubbed a ball to the opposite field and showed once again why he’s the Yankees’ postseason hero.

Giancarlo Stanton’s three-run home run off Civale in the first inning was exactly the way the Yankees wanted to start the game with their season on the line. Stanton now has 11 career home runs in 23 games and 77 at-bats in the postseason (all for the Yankees) since 2018. He took his bat with him halfway down the first-base line before emphatically dropping it the moment his home-run ball sunk into the right-field seats. 

"They beat us today," Guardians manager Terry Francona said. "We pushed them about as far as we could, and they came out and beat us today, so they get to move on, and we don't."

Yes, a rescheduled 4:07 p.m. ET first pitch Tuesday meant many people who tried to attend Monday’s original Game 5 could not skip work or rearrange their schedules to make it to Yankee Stadium in time for that thrilling first inning. But from the ear-shattering decibels, no one would've been able to tell that there were empty seats. 

Stanton’s big blast turned the ballpark into the Bronx Zoo. By the time Judge extended the Yankees’ lead to 4-0 with a solo home run to right in the second inning, Yankee Stadium was in full-on celebration mode. Win and advance? The crowd was no longer anxious about the final score. The Yankees did everyone’s blood pressure a favor by deciding this one early.

"That’s what you play for — these fans," Judge said. "They continue to show up, from the cold games in April to the hot games in the summer when they got better things to do. They continue to pack this place out. Getting the chance to win a Game 5 here at home and move on to the next round with these fans, that’s what it’s about for us."

And unlike the Guardians, who stuck with Civale instead of pivoting to, say, right-handed ace Shane Bieber on short rest, the Yankees replaced Jameson Taillon with reliable left-hander Nestor Cortes. The southpaw, with the funky delivery and gold chains adorning his neck, was terrific and efficient on just three days of rest. Cortes limited Cleveland to one earned run on three hits across five innings and 61 pitches.

While Cortes’ timing-related antics on the mound are always a joy to watch, none of his at-bats were more entertaining than the ones against Josh Naylor. The Guardians' designated hitter stepped into the box in the second inning Tuesday for the first time since his baby-cradling gesture toward Gerrit Cole on Sunday. He walked up to heavy boos from the home crowd, flied out to right and was greeted with "Who’s your daddy?" chants on his jog back into Cleveland’s dugout. 

That three-worded chant resurfaced every time Naylor came to bat and was promptly retired by the Yankees pitching staff. Naylor went 0-for-4 in the series finale. 

It was appropriate, then, that when Gleyber Torres caught the final out of the game, he celebrated by rocking the baby. Later, Torres said he was irked by Naylor’s initial jab at Cole.

"It’s disrespectful," he said. "Not just for Cole but for the whole team. We got a little revenge. We’re happy to beat those guys. And now they can watch on TV."

The Yankees were prepared to carry that edge to Houston following their subdued celebration in the Bronx. The team popped its series-clinching champagne within 10 or 15 minutes of the final out and cooled their bash shortly after. The squad trickled out of the clubhouse and back onto the field to take a team photo in front of the thousands of fans who remained in their seats well after Torres rocked the baby.

Once back in the clubhouse, players immediately darted for the showers, and Judge said the team was finished drinking and celebrating. They were locked back in, already thinking about the ALCS because they don’t have any time for a break. 

The team took a four-hour charter plane to Houston on Tuesday night. Cole said he hoped he could get some advanced scouting out of the way on the plane so that he could sleep in.

On Wednesday, right-hander Taillon will take the mound against two-time Cy Young winner Justin Verlander to kick off what is expected to be another tense and electrifying ALCS between these two rivals.

"Let the best team win," Cortes said.

Deesha Thosar is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets for the New York Daily News. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.