CLEVELAND -- The 10th inning on Sunday started with pure jubilation for the Yankees.

After Anthony Volpe tied the game in the ninth inning with an RBI double off Emmanuel Clase, the Yankees gained the lead in the 10th on a two-run single from Anthony Rizzo that put them in the driver’s seat to pick up a series sweep over the Guardians.

But then that jubilation turned to misery, as the Guardians rallied to score three runs in the bottom of the inning off Caleb Ferguson to secure an 8-7 walk-off win at Progressive Field.

“Tough one,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We just didn't make a few plays we needed to make. When you grind through and get a lead there, it’s always tough [to lose].”

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The bottom of the 10th started poorly for the Yankees, as Guardians superstar José Ramírez grinded out an eight-pitch at-bat off Ferguson that ended with a single.

It looked as if Ferguson had gotten Josh Naylor to ground into a double play in the next at-bat. But after getting the force at second, Volpe bobbled the ball as he tried to throw to first, allowing Naylor to reach and automatic runner Bo Naylor to score.

After a David Fry double to right-center, the Guardians had runners on second and third with one out and Will Brennan at the plate in a left-on-left matchup. With the Yankees’ infield playing in, Ferguson again got the ground ball he wanted. But second baseman Gleyber Torres couldn’t field it cleanly, allowing Josh Naylor to score from third and tie the game.

“Just bobbled it,” Boone said. “Definitely had a play at the plate there. Just didn’t come up with it cleanly.”

Torres said that his first instinct was to try to look Naylor back to third, which contributed to the bobble.

“I missed it for a couple seconds, and when I got the ball, it was too late,” Torres said.

A batter later, Andrés Giménez walked the game off with a sacrifice fly.

“I thought Ferguson threw the ball well,” Boone said. “We probably should have turned the double play and got the out with the infield in. It’s just kind of unfortunate on his part.”

Despite Ferguson’s tough-luck loss, it was a solid weekend for the Yankees’ bullpen, which allowed five runs (four earned) over 12 2/3 innings.

Starter Nestor Cortes got through only four-plus innings -- his shortest start of the season -- thanks to the Guardians' penchant for grinding out at-bats. He allowed four runs and surrendered two home runs, which brought back a troubling trend. Cortes allowed multiple home runs in three of his 12 starts last season.

Boone said it looked as if Cortes ran out of gas.

“I was in a lot of 2-2 and 3-2 counts, but I feel like my stuff was good overall,” Cortes said. “I was just trying to be too fine with the corners and wasn’t getting enough early contact in play."

After Josh Naylor’s RBI single off Nick Burdi tied the game in the fifth, both teams’ bullpens traded zeros until former Yankee Estevan Florial hit a go-ahead home run off Luke Weaver in the eighth.

With Progressive Field rocking, Clase took the mound in the ninth and surrendered the two-out double to Volpe.

While Volpe was facing Clase for the first time in his career, he said he leaned on his more seasoned teammates, who gave him some advice that helped him catch up to Clase’s 100 mph cutter.

“He has some incredible stuff, and I just tried to stick to my approach,” Volpe said.

Prior to that, most of the Yankees’ offense came on a majestic blast from Aaron Judge, who launched a home run to left-center field in the third inning to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead.

At a Statcast-projected 450 feet, the homer is tied for the fifth-longest in baseball this year.

Even with the Yankees’ late-game defensive miscues, Judge isn’t worried about the team’s infield defense in the long term.

“We’ve got a lot of special players around that infield,” Judge said. “Days like today happen, and we’ve just got to move on. Everybody on this team knows [infield defense] is one of our strengths.”