The Yankees came to Kansas City on Wednesday night with a crucial game ahead of them. The Royals, a scrappy underdog team that recently rose from the ashes of 100 losses, had even played them at Yankee Stadium. Game 3 of this American League Division Series matchup was messy and tense, with many missed opportunities, but the Yankees finally found the best player to lift them to the top with a 3-2 victory.

Giancarlo Stanton, a consistent playoff performer since coming to the Bronx, had the two big hits — a double in the fourth and a long home run in the eighth — to put the Yanks ahead. The bullpen, which had an excellent performance Monday despite the loss, proved its duty again and shut down the Royals’ attack after Clarke Schmidt faltered in the fifth. The Yankees lead the series 2-1 with the opportunity to eliminate Kansas City and advance to the ALCS tomorrow night.

In the first inning, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge both hit baseballs but couldn’t get on board. Soto skied one to center, which would have gone down in most ballparks (albeit not at Yankee Stadium), but it died in the cavernous outfield of Kauffman Stadium. Then Judge nailed a liner to the left, but Bobby Witt Jr. grabbed him before he could reach the outfield. Witt was unlucky himself when he hit a ball to right that Soto caught first from home for the second time – that fly would have been in ten parks.

The Yankees started putting together some good at bats in the third, increasing Lugo’s pitch count. Oswaldo Cabrera walked, giving Gleyber Torres a chance to drive in a run. He hit the eighth pitch of his at-bat down the right-field line, and Adam Frazier couldn’t get there. The ball bounced close to the line, but first base umpire Mark Carlson ruled it a foul ball. The Yankees challenged and from some angles the ball appeared to have hit the chalk line, but the call stood, for lack of conclusive evidence. Torres then hit the next pitch to right, but it caught harmlessly in Frazier’s glove, making for a frustrating end to the inning.

But the Yankees didn’t let that setback get them down. Soto banked a leadoff four in the fourth, and although Judge and Austin Wells couldn’t move him, Giancarlo Stanton got Soto’s legs churning with a long drive to the left-center gap. A good relay throw might have brought Soto home, but he reached the first base line, allowing him to score on Stanton’s double for a 1-0 Yankee lead.

In the next frame the first two bombers reached the base. Alex Verdugo successfully got them into scoring position for Torres, who walked to load them up for Soto. If there was ever a point to take the game out of sight, this was it, with one out and both star hitters likely batting. Soto got an airborne ball to right center for a sacrifice fly, but Judge couldn’t get the big hit and the Yanks settled for a 2-0 lead in the fifth.

The missed opportunity for serious damage loomed immediately afterwards. The Royals started an innocent two-out rally against Schmidt with a Frazier single. The No. 9 hitter, Kyle Isbel, was next in for KC. With two hits, Schmidt threw out a cutter that Isbel barely kept fair for a double down the leftfield line. Frazier, running upfield, scored easily. Schmidt got two strikes off the next batter, Michael Massey, but couldn’t put him away. Massey hit a liner into the right center hole and Soto made an ill-advised dive.

Soto completely whiffed on the catch attempt, so not only did the Royals tie the game at two apiece, but Massey also advanced to third with a triple.

That was the end of the road for Schmidt, who was replaced by Clay Holmes. The starter’s final line: 4.2 innings, two runs on four hits, four strikeouts and one walk. It was somewhat reminiscent of Carlos Rodón’s outing last night, but fortunately with less disastrous consequences; As soon as the Royals smelled blood, they could pounce. Holmes managed to get the elusive final out of the fifth, but the damage had already been done.

After a failed rally in the sixth inning in which Stanton stunningly stole his first base in four years, Soto walked with two outs in the seventh, bringing up Judge. The Royals sent in Brady Singer, normally a starting pitcher, to pull out this key relief. So far in the series, Judge is 1-for-10, his only hit being a weak infield single with no one late in Game 2. This was another moment where the Yankees needed their superstar to step up.

Unfortunately, he just couldn’t. Judge tried to check his swing on a full count, but Carlson called him up. Singer walked off the mound as Judge’s ledger went to 0-for-4 on the night and 1-for-11 in the series. Regardless of whether the call was correct (it didn’t seem like much of a swing on the replay), it was another letdown of a plate performance by the Yankee captain, who failed to get the big swing in any of these games. .

But Stanton could. After some great work from Tommy Kahnle, Stanton came up with one against Kris Bubic. A 3-1 slider from left fell right into Stanton’s golf swing, and MLB’s active home run leader lit it up and drove it well over the Royals’ bullpen in left for the go-ahead, a 400-foot blast.

Stanton now has 12 career playoff home runs and has gone deep at least once in every postseason since joining the Yankees.

The Bombers had another chance to add something. After the home run, Anthony Volpe and Cabrera drew walks to give Verdugo a chance (manager Aaron Boone remained committed to neglecting the massive bench he brought in in October). Unfortunately, he swung on the first pitch and made a bad third out. A slim 3-2 margin was all the Yankees had to protect.

Kahnle got the first of the eighth inning before Aaron Boone made the call to summon Luke Weaver for an apparent five-out save. He promptly allowed a leadoff hit to Witt to drive in the tying run. After a beautiful catch by Volpe on a Vinnie Pasquantino liner, Salvador Perez singled to move Witt to third base. Enter Yuli Gurriel, who seemed to carry the enduring spirit of the hated Astros with her to the court this series. Weaver drove him out by inducing a fly ball to center that ended the rally. As everyone expected coming into the series, the Yankee bullpen has taken the lead.

But Weaver still had three more outs to make. He had no extra margin for error: the Yankees, of course, stranded two more runners in the top of the ninth, bringing their total to 11 and their series total to 30. They also finished 0-for-6 with RISP, which left their mark on the series to 3-out-of-25 – that’s a figure of 0.120 for the morbidly curious.

At the start, MJ Melendez flew to the left. Maikel Garcia popped out to Cabrera in foul territory, and Weaver was one out. Tommy Pham came up, pinch-hitting for Frazier. He hit the first pitch he saw into the ground. Volpe threw to first base and the Yankees secured the victory. Just like that, Weaver sealed a 4.1-inning scoreless effort from the bullpen with the five-out save.

Tomorrow, the Yankees will have a chance to advance to the American League Championship Series, where the Tigers could meet them if they also beat the Guardians. This particular ALDS rumble will be a rematch of Game 1, pitting Gerrit Cole against Michael Wacha. Please note that the first pitch will be an hour later than tonight, at 8:08 PM on TBS.

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