The further the game dragged on, the more confident the Guardians grew. 

In the wild-card round, Cleveland had outlasted the Rays, blanking them for 15 innings in the series-ending Game 2 victory. 

On Friday, in a tie game with the Yankees in the AL Division Series, the Guardians again believed they had the bullpen advantage. And again, they were proven correct. 

“The longer the games go, just based on how we play offensively and pitching-wise,” said righty reliever Trevor Stephan, “it favors us in the long haul in these tight ballgames.” 

That was evident Friday afternoon, when Cleveland’s bullpen extended its scoreless streak to 17 ²/₃ innings to begin the postseason and the Guardians beat the Yankees, 4-2, in 10 innings in The Bronx to even the ALDS at a game apiece. 

Stephan, James Karinchak and a career-long outing from All-Star Emmanuel Clase silenced the Yankees for 4 ¹/₃, one-hit innings. Of the 13 outs Cleveland’s relievers recorded, eight came through strikeouts. 

After Shane Bieber held the Yankees to two runs in 5 ²/₃ innings, the Cleveland bullpen outdueled the home team’s. It was Jameson Taillon, a starter pitching from the bullpen for the Yankees and charged with two runs, who cracked while Cleveland’s relief was spotless. 

First up was Stephan, a former Yankees farmhand who was lost in the Rule 5 draft ahead of the 2021 season. The 26-year-old entered a jam — runners on first and second with two outs in the sixth inning — and escaped, getting pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter to chase a diving splitter for strike three. 

“Just wanted to set the tone,” said Stephan, who then struck out the side in the seventh, including a punch-out of Aaron Judge that prompted some boos for the 62-homer superstar. 

Stephan passed the baton to Karinchak, who struck out Gleyber Torres and Oswaldo Cabrera, but also walked the bases loaded in the eighth inning before he was relieved by Clase. 

“I made some pitches when it mattered,” said the fourth-year reliever from Newburgh, “and Clase came to clean it up like he always does. He’s a special reliever.” 

The Guardians’ closer entered the bases-loaded problem and got Kyle Higashioka to line out to third baseman Jose Ramirez. Clase, who had not recorded more than three outs in a game in the regular season, got seven outs, from the eighth through 10th, to lock up the game. 

Included was a 10th-inning war with Judge, who grounded out, and a game-ending ground out from Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who represented the tying run. 

“It’s kind of hard to describe how good that guy is,” said Cleveland’s Josh Naylor, whose RBI double against Taillon provided the Guardians’ final run. 

“He’s always wanted the ball every day, so I feel like that was his moment,” Stephan said of Clase, who led the majors with 42 saves. “He wasn’t looking at the pen. He knew that it was time.”