At one point Friday afternoon, a Yankees-Astros ALCS matchup seemed almost inevitable. 

Then, however, the Yankees stopped hitting — not scoring after a pair of first-inning runs — and they let Cleveland back into the ALDS. 

They couldn’t get a hit with runners in scoring position and they made a key error in the 10th inning in a 4-2, 10-inning loss to the Guardians in The Bronx on Friday. 

The teams will head to Cleveland for Game 3 on Saturday night with the series tied 1-1 after the Yankees had their six-game postseason winning streak against the Guardians snapped. 

“We never thought this was going to be easy,’’ manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ll get on that plane and go and try and grab one [Saturday].” 

Maybe the Yankees didn’t expect it to be easy, but many others did. 

Jameson Taillon’s first career appearance out of the bullpen was a nightmare, as he failed to retire any of the three batters he faced in the 10th. 

Jose Ramirez opened the inning by hitting a pop fly to left field with the Yankees in a shift. The ball dropped between left fielder Oswaldo Cabrera, who was unable to make a sliding catch, and third baseman Josh Donaldson. When Donaldson picked up the ball and threw wild to second base for an error, Ramirez ended up at third base. 

“I thought I had a chance at second, [but] pulled the throw a little bit trying to make a play and Jose Ramirez does what he does,” Donaldson said. 

With the infield in, Oscar Gonzalez blooped an RBI single into shallow right to drive in Ramirez with the go-ahead run. 

Josh Naylor followed with a hard double to center that scored Gonzalez. 

And the Yankees lineup, which was stymied after the first inning, couldn’t rally in the bottom of the 10th, with Cabrera striking out and Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounding out after Donaldson had reached on a one-out walk. 

Asked how he expects the Yankees to respond, Aaron Judge, who struck out four times and was booed, said: “Just like we have all year. We faced adversity throughout the season on the way to winning the division. This isn’t anything new to us. We’ve got the guys to go finish the job.” 

His manager agreed. 

“Nothing changes for us,’’ Boone said. “We never expected any of this, this time of year, to be easy, and nothing’s been easy for us this year — especially in the second half of the season.” 

Playing a rare postseason day game — necessitated by the rainout Thursday night — the Yankees went ahead early when Stanton hit a two-run homer off Shane Bieber in the bottom of the first. But they were shut down for the rest of the afternoon. 

Nestor Cortes gave up runs in the fourth and fifth innings, as the Guardians tied the game, before the Yankees’ bullpen took over and delivered four shutout innings — until Taillon faltered in the 10th. 

With Gleyber Torres on after a single and two out, Stanton gave the Yankees the lead in the bottom of the first. He got some help from home plate umpire Jeremie Rehak, who missed a 3-1 pitch that should have been ball four, but was instead called a strike. 

Stanton sent Bieber’s next pitch out to the short porch in right to put the Yankees up, 2-0. 

The Yankees squandered a chance to extend their lead in the third inning, stranding a pair of runners in scoring position. 

With runners on second and third, Stanton struck out and Donaldson lined out to left, where Steven Kwan made a shoestring catch to end the inning and keep it a two-run game. The Yankees finished 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. 

Cortes allowed a two-out RBI single to former Met Andres Gimenez in the fourth inning and a solo homer to another ex-Met, Amed Rosario, with one out in the fifth, as Cleveland tied the game at 2-2. 

The Yankees got two on with two out in the bottom of the sixth to knock Bieber out of the game. 

Matt Carpenter, out since August with a fractured left foot, pinch-hit for Jose Trevino but struck out against reliever Trevor Stephan, a former Yankees farmhand. Stephan whiffed each of the four batters he faced. 

Stanton walked with one out in the eighth against James Karinchak and pinch-runner Tim Locastro entered and swiped second with Donaldson at the plate. Karinchak walked Donaldson to bring up Cabrera, who whiffed. 

Isiah Kiner-Falefa walked to load the bases for Kyle Higashioka, who had entered behind the plate after Carpenter hit for Trevino. 

Against Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase, Higashioka lined out to third. 

“We’re going to go there and punch back,’’ Cortes said.