Yanks avenge sting of '23 with satisfying ALDS clinch in KC

KANSAS CITY – The flashbacks hit Aaron Judge as he strode through Kauffman Stadium’s visiting dugout during this American League Division Series, reminders of the hollowness that he and his teammates experienced on those same grounds 12 months ago.

They had been in a glum daze as they scanned the infield dirt for a few extra beats while their season ended, relegated to outsiders while baseball’s best teams were advancing to more important games. They’ve resolved to never experience that again.

“All day, I was just thinking about our season ending here in ’23,” Judge said on Thursday. “No playoffs, that stung. A lot of guys stuck around, staring at the field, a lot of what-ifs. What could we have done here?”

We have some of those answers now. After 94 wins in the regular season, the Yankees are eight wins shy of their ultimate goal, as Judge secured the final out of a 3-1 victory over the Royals in Game 4 of the American League Division Series.

Juan Soto, Gleyber Torres and Giancarlo Stanton all drove in runs to support Gerrit Cole’s strong seven-inning effort as the Yankees advanced to their 19th ALCS all-time, and their third in Aaron Boone’s managerial tenure.

“We played a really good-looking brand of baseball in this series,” Boone said. “Even though we didn’t score a ton of runs, I felt like we had a lot of tough, heavy at-bats that we like to have. Hopefully we break through with some more runs next series.”

Preparing to host either the Guardians or Tigers in a best-of-seven showdown set to begin Oct. 14 at Yankee Stadium, this squad believes it has all the necessary ingredients to advance to the franchise’s first World Series since 2009.

“We’re fired up,” Cole said. “I had a couple of IPAs with the boys and sprayed some champagne. This is the greatest.”

As Cole popped bottles and sprayed lagers to a techno soundtrack, others on the roster reflected upon the journey of the preceding calendar year, beginning with that season-ending loss to the Royals last Oct. 1.

“We talked about that today; they ended our season last year and it left a sour taste in our mouths,” said shortstop Anthony Volpe. “Probably the same way they were sitting in their dugout watching us, that’s what we were doing last year.”

The offseason had been too long for many Bombers; when Judge resumed workouts in January at the club’s Tampa, Fla. player development complex, he was thrilled that many teammates reported weeks early to join him.

“Guys went out, put in the work,” Judge said. “To have our season moving on here, it’s pretty awesome.”

It took all of three pitches in Game 4 for the Yankees’ aggressive game plan to reveal itself. Torres roped the contest’s first offering for a double, then raced home on Juan Soto’s single.

Cole appreciated the support, feeling confident in a crisp fastball after he’d turned in a clunky effort in the ALDS opener. Torres built on the lead with a fifth-inning RBI single that chased Kansas City right-hander Michael Wacha, who scattered six hits over 4 2/3 frames.

Held to an infield single through the first three ALDS games, Judge collected his first extra-base hit of this postseason in the sixth, scorching a 115.5 mph liner to the gap in left-center field for a double. Stanton banged a run-scoring single through the drawn-in infield to produce the third run.

“We’re here to win,” Stanton said. “No one wants to be on the losing side of this. I can imagine how K.C. feels right now. No one wants to feel that way, and we have an opportunity to keep it rolling. We need to take care of business.”

Impressively fearless throughout this series, a Kansas City squad stocked with gamers refused to go quietly. As Cole noted, “I’ve got to be honest with you, the Royals are a damn good ballclub. That was a really tough series.”

Both benches and bullpens briefly cleared in the sixth inning, when Maikel Garcia took issue with a hard tag by Volpe. Vinnie Pasquantino put Kansas City on the board later that inning with an RBI double off Cole, who clamped the damage there.

Kansas City made a late bid to tie the game in the seventh, when Kyle Isbel’s deep fly ball fell just shy of what would have been a game-tying homer. Cole screamed excitedly as he bounded off the field, seeing Soto secure the catch against the right-field wall.

“I was proud of the way we competed,” Cole said. “I was holding my emotions in all night, so I just let them out there with the boys going to the dugout.”

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Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver split the last nine outs as the Yankees partied late into the evening, savoring the accomplishment while also acknowledging that their work is not yet complete.

“I always like our chances. I’m always betting on our guys, man,” Judge said. “There’s something special here. I think we’ve got a little bit of the ghosts from the old stadium, a little bit of magic there too.”