The New York Yankees trailed the 102-win Cleveland Indians two games to none in the 2017 ALDS, then won three straight to take the series 3-2. Masahiro Tanaka and Greg Bird won a 1-0 Game 3, Luis Severino won Game 4, and Didi Gregorius hit two homers off Corey Kluber in Game 5 on October 11, 2017.
Nobody gave them a chance. Honestly, after Game 2, I'm not sure the Yankees gave themselves one.
The Team Nobody Wanted to See
Cleveland wasn't just good in 2017. The defending AL champ went 102-60 and ripped off a 22-game winning streak in August and September, the longest in American League history. It also had Kluber, who was about to win his second Cy Young.
The 2017 Yankees were a 91-win Wild Card team that had nearly lost the Wild Card Game in the first inning. Severino recorded one out against Minnesota before Joe Girardi came and got him, and the bullpen had to cover 8 2/3 innings to get to Cleveland. (That's not a rotation. That's a hostage situation.)
Game 1 went about how you'd expect. Trevor Bauer carried a no-hitter into the sixth, when Aaron Hicks finally doubled, and Jay Bruce hit a two-run homer off Sonny Gray. Indians 4, Yankees 0.
Game 2: The Challenge That Wasn't
Then came the night that still makes me want to throw a remote.
The Yankees knocked Kluber out after 2 2/3 innings. Gary Sanchez hit a two-run homer in the first, Hicks hit a three-run shot in the third, and Greg Bird added a two-run homer in the fifth. It was 8-3 in the sixth inning. On the road. Against the best pitcher in the league.
With two outs and two on in the bottom of the sixth, Chad Green got pinch-hitter Lonnie Chisenhall to 0-2 and came inside with a fastball. It hit the knob of the bat and dropped into Sanchez's glove. That's a foul tip. That's strike three. That's the inning over.
Home plate umpire Dan Iassogna called it a hit by pitch. Sanchez pointed at the bat right away. Girardi didn't challenge. The replay room didn't find what it needed inside the 30-second window, and Girardi said afterward he didn't want to mess with Green's rhythm.
Two pitches later, Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam. It was 8-7.
Jay Bruce tied it with a solo homer off David Robertson in the eighth, and in the 13th, Austin Jackson walked against Dellin Betances, stole second, and scored on Yan Gomes' single down the third-base line. Indians 9, Yankees 8, after 5 hours and 8 minutes. Cleveland led the series 2-0.
The next day, Girardi stopped defending the decision.
I screwed up. It's hard. It's a hard day for me. But I've got to move forward and we'll be ready to go tomorrow.
I'll give him credit for that. It didn't stop the Stadium from booing him during introductions before Game 3.
Game 3: Tanaka, Judge's Glove, and Bird
Facing elimination, Masahiro Tanaka threw seven scoreless innings -- three hits, one walk, seven strikeouts -- and Carlos Carrasco matched him for most of the night.
In the sixth, Lindor drove one to right that looked like a two-run homer. Aaron Judge went up at the wall and took it back. Judge was 0-for-10 with eight strikeouts in the series at that point, so the glove was about the only thing working for him.
Bird led off the seventh against Andrew Miller, the ex-Yankee who'd owned the previous October, and hammered a 1-1 fastball into the second deck in right. Aroldis Chapman got the last five outs. Yankees 1, Indians 0.
One swing. That's all it took. (Bird's Yankees career mostly ran through the trainer's room, but he'll always have that one.)
Game 4: Severino Answers Back
Six days after his one-out disaster against the Twins, Severino threw seven innings of three-run ball with nine strikeouts. Cleveland sent Bauer back out on short rest, and he didn't make it out of the second. The Yankees scored four in that inning, capped by a two-run Judge double off the wall, his only hit of the series.
Cleveland made four errors, and only one of the Yankees' seven runs counted as earned. Sanchez homered in the sixth. Yankees 7, Indians 3. Back to Cleveland for Game 5.
Game 5: Didi Takes Kluber Deep, Twice
Didi Gregorius had one hit in the first four games. With two outs in the first inning of Game 5, he hit a Kluber pitch into the right-field seats. In the third, he did it again, a two-run shot for a 3-0 lead.
CC Sabathia struck out nine but ran out of gas in the fifth, when four straight singles cut it to 3-2. Robertson came in and got Lindor to ground into a double play, then threw 2 2/3 hitless innings. Chapman took it from there for six outs.
In the ninth, Brett Gardner fouled off pitch after pitch from Cody Allen before singling to right on the 12th pitch of the at-bat. Hicks scored, and Todd Frazier came around when Bruce's throw got away. Chapman struck out Jackson looking to end it. Yankees 5, Indians 2.
What It Meant
The Yankees became the 10th team to win a best-of-five after dropping the first two games, and they'd done it once before, against Oakland in 2001 -- the series with the Jeter flip. Cleveland became the first team to blow a two-game series lead in back-to-back postseasons, a year after losing a 3-1 World Series lead to the Cubs. (I'd feel worse for them if they hadn't just beaten us in 13 innings.)
The run ended one win short of the World Series, in an ALCS against Houston that looks a lot different now that we know about the trash cans. Five days after Game 7, the Yankees announced Girardi wouldn't be back, and they later hired Aaron Boone.
That's the strange part. Girardi's missed challenge nearly sank the season, and his team saved it anyway. It just didn't save his job.
| Series Result | Yankees 3, Indians 2 |
| Game 1 (Oct. 5, Cleveland) | Indians 4, Yankees 0 |
| Game 2 (Oct. 6, Cleveland) | Indians 9, Yankees 8 (13 inn.) |
| Game 3 (Oct. 8, New York) | Yankees 1, Indians 0 |
| Game 4 (Oct. 9, New York) | Yankees 7, Indians 3 |
| Game 5 (Oct. 11, Cleveland) | Yankees 5, Indians 2 |
| Cleveland 2017 Record | 102-60 (22-game win streak) |
| Yankees 2017 Record | 91-71 (AL Wild Card) |
| Tanaka, Game 3 | 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K |
| Severino, Game 4 | 7 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 9 K |
| Gregorius, Game 5 | 2 HR, 3 RBI off Kluber |
| Aaron Judge, Series | 1-for-20, 16 K |
Wild Card Escape
Severino records one out, but Didi Gregorius ties it with a three-run homer in the first, and the bullpen covers 8 2/3 innings. Yankees 8, Twins 4.
Game 1: Bauer's No-Hit Bid
Trevor Bauer no-hits the Yankees into the sixth, and Jay Bruce homers off Sonny Gray. Indians 4, Yankees 0.
Game 2: The Chisenhall Call
Up 8-3 in the sixth, the Yankees don't challenge a hit-by-pitch that hit Lonnie Chisenhall's bat. Francisco Lindor hits a grand slam, and Cleveland wins 9-8 in 13 innings.
Girardi Owns It
On the off day, Joe Girardi tells reporters he "screwed up" by not challenging the call.
Game 3: Bird Off Miller
Tanaka throws seven scoreless innings, Judge robs Lindor, and Greg Bird's seventh-inning homer off Andrew Miller wins it 1-0.
Game 4: Severino Bounces Back
Severino strikes out nine over seven innings, and four Cleveland errors help the Yankees win 7-3 to force Game 5.
Game 5: Didi Twice
Gregorius homers twice off Kluber, Robertson and Chapman get the last 14 outs, and the Yankees win 5-2 to finish the comeback.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the Yankees come back from 0-2 against Cleveland in 2017?
Yes. Cleveland won Games 1 and 2 at home, 4-0 and 9-8 in 13 innings. The Yankees then won Game 3 (1-0) and Game 4 (7-3) at Yankee Stadium and Game 5 (5-2) in Cleveland to take the ALDS three games to two.
What happened with Joe Girardi's challenge in Game 2 of the 2017 ALDS?
With the Yankees up 8-3 and two outs in the sixth, an 0-2 pitch from Chad Green hit the knob of Lonnie Chisenhall's bat, but the umpire ruled a hit by pitch. Girardi didn't challenge, which would have made it strike three. Francisco Lindor then hit a grand slam, and Cleveland won 9-8 in 13 innings. Girardi said the next day, "I screwed up."
Who hit two home runs in Game 5 of the 2017 ALDS?
Didi Gregorius. He hit a solo homer off Corey Kluber in the first inning and a two-run homer off Kluber in the third, giving the Yankees a 3-0 lead in a game they won 5-2.
How many strikeouts did Aaron Judge have in the 2017 ALDS?
Judge struck out 16 times in the five games against Cleveland, a record for a single postseason series, while going 1-for-20. His only hit was a two-run double in Game 4.