MLB Playoffs: Analysis, insights into Yankees win in ALCS

The New York Yankees won the pennant!

With a thrilling Game 5 win on Saturday against the Cleveland Guardians, the Yankees won the American League Championship Series and punched their ticket to the World Series for the first time since 2009.

Here’s how the game went, from live updates and analysis to insights and what’s next for both teams.

Takeaways

New York wins the series 4-1

The second-longest pennant drought in Yankees history is over. For the first time since 2009, New York is headed to the World Series after winning the last two of three dramatic games against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Juan Soto showed why he is the most complete hitter in the game with a masterful strike against Hunter Gaddis in the 10th, in which he fouled out four pitches after trailing 2-1 and then blasted a three-run home run to right-center to cheering fans Bombers euphorically poured out of the visitors’ dugout. All three runs were unearned as Cleveland shortstop Brayan Rocchio botched a flip on what could have been an inning-ending double play. This was symbolic of a series in which the Guardians were weak at times and their margin of error in the match was already low. On the night of the 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, not far from the ballpark, the Yankees dance all night in Cleveland. For the Guardians, who last won the World Series in 1948, baseball’s longest title drought continues for at least another year.

What’s next: One way or another, we’re in for a classic big-market World Series showdown, and the Yankees can now go home and see who survives the Dodgers-Mets series in the NLCS. Either we get the second-ever Yankees-Mets edition of the Subway Series, or we get the 11th edition of the Yankees-Dodgers rivalry in the Fall Classic and the first since 1981. –Bradford Doolittle

Relive Game 5