WASHINGTON: Juan Soto smashed a three-run home run in the 10th inning on Saturday that lifted the New York Yankees over Cleveland 5-2 and into their first World Series since 2009. The 25-year-old Dominican outfielder crushed a fastball from Cleveland pitcher Hunter Gaddis over the centerfield wall to score the deciding runs in a thriller that sent the Yankees into their record 41st World Series overall.

“It sounds amazing,” Soto said. “It’s the best feeling in the game whenever you win and take your team to the World Series. It’s the best feeling you can ever have. That’s what we play for.” The Yankees captured the best-of-seven American League Championship Series 4-1 and reached Major League Baseball’s championship spectacle, which begins on Friday.

“We did a really good job since day one. We’ve been working hard. Now we’re the best team in the American League,” Soto said. “We’ve been grinding since day one and now we’ve got it accomplished.”

The 27-time champion Yankees will face the National League winner, either the Los Angeles Dodgers or New York Mets. The Dodgers lead their series 3-2 and will host game six Sunday. “We have all the talent we need to go all the way,” said Soto, who helped Washington win the 2019 World Series. “We’re feeling really good. We’re really sticking together.”

Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton, a 34-year-old outfielder who has never played in a World Series in his 15 MLB seasons, smacked a game-tying two-run homer in the sixth, his fourth homer of the series and the 16th playoff homer of his career. “That’s our guy,” Soto said of Stanton. “He put us in the game again. He has been doing that since day one of the playoffs and we’re really happy to have him. He kept us close and we just came back from there.”

The game stayed deadlocked until the 10th, when Gaddis walked Austin Wells, allowed an Alex Verdugo’s single and surrendered the decisive three-run blast to Soto. “I was just saying to myself, ‘You’re all over that guy,’” said Soto, who fouled off four pitches in a row just before belting the homer. “Just had to make good contact and I did.” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said the secret to success was that the players “are so close and they’re so together. These guys play for each other every single day.

“It’s incredible. To know we’re going to the dance for a chance to play for a world championship, I can’t imagine doing it with a better group.” Stanton was named the series Most Valuable Player. “It’s incredible,” he said. “We’ve been resilient this whole playoffs. This was a roller coaster and we were able to keep punching back. “We know there is much more work to do, it’s all uphill and we’ve got to go get it done.” Cleveland, which last won the World Series in 1948, was denied a trip back for the first time since 2016. New York’s Gleyber Torres opened with a single and raced for home on Soto’s double to the right-field wall, but was tagged out at the plate by Cleveland catcher Bo Naylor off a throw from second baseman Andres Gimenez.

Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm both reached after being hit by a pitch from Tanner Bibee to load the bases, but the game-two loser escaped scoreless when Anthony Rizzo flew out. Canadian siblings combined to give Cleveland a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Josh Naylor singled and scored on his brother Bo Naylor’s double down the right field line. Gimenez doubled and scored on Steven Kwan’s single up the middle in the fifth inning for a 2-0 Guardians edge but the Yankees surrendered no more as reliever Mark Leiter Jr. escaped a bases-loaded jam. 

To start the sixth, Torres and Soto both singled for the Yankees. Torres took third when Judge grounded into a double play but Bibee was then tagged by Stanton for a game-tying two-run homer to left field. — AFP