An aggressive send from Luis Rojas backfired for the Yankees early in the Saturday’s Game 5 ALCS showdown vs. the Guardians in Cleveland .
The Yankees nearly took a lead after just two batters for a second consecutive night, but Gleyber Torres — who led off with a single to continue his tear from the leadoff spot — was thrown out at home despite Juan Soto’s double rolling to the wall.
Instead, the Yankees were forced to settle with having a runner on second and one out for Aaron Judge.
The Guardians’ relay — from Jhonkensy Noel in right field to second baseman Andrés Giménez to catcher Bo Naylor — ended with a perfectly placed relay throw that took Naylor’s tag right into the path of Torres as he tried to tuck his hand around and scrape the plate.
Even after Torres was thrown out at the plate, the Yankees still managed to load the bases against Tanner Bibee when Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. got hit by pitches.
But Anthony Rizzo, who had two hits in Game 4, flew out to left field to end the threat.
Bibee, despite allowing two hits and hitting two batters in the opening frame, escaped the jam.
Rojas’ questionable send — especially with Judge on deck and a surging Giancarlo Stanton up after that — helped bail out the Guardians starter in a must-win game for Cleveland.
