Cleveland brought the game-winning run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth when Jhonkensy Noel drew a one-out walk and Andres Gimenez singled. But Bo Naylor flied out to center field, and Rocchio grounded out to second to end the game.
New York can clinch the AL pennant and a trip to the World Series with a win on Saturday.
Yet again, Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase looked human in the postseason after pitching heroically during the regular season. Coming in for the ninth with a 6–6 tie, Clase gave up consecutive singles to Rizzo and Volpe. Austin Wells struck out, and Volpe stole second base, setting up Verdugo's go-ahead ground ball.
Cade Smith was Cleveland’s fourth pitcher of the game and came into Friday’s matchup having allowed just one run in nine postseason innings. He had a disastrous result in Game 4.
Juan Soto walked, and Aaron Judge singled to begin the sixth. Jazz Chisholm Jr. moved them to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. Then Smith left a two-strike fastball out over the plate, and Giancarlo Stanton crushed it for a three-run homer, building the Yankees' lead to 6–2.
Soto and Wells also hit home runs in Game 4, roughing up Guardians starter Gavin Williams in the top of the first and second. Williams appeared to settle down after that, but manager Stephen Vogt pulled him with one out in the third inning.
Cleveland rallied in the seventh, cutting the margin to 6–5 on consecutive one-out RBI doubles from Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor off Clay Holmes.
But Noel could not repeat his late-inning, pinch-hit home run heroics against Mark Leiter Jr. He hit a long fly ball down the left-field line, but it stayed in the park this time. Leiter was added to the Yankees’ ALCS roster before the game as an injury replacement for Ian Hamilton. The Guardians tacked on one more in the eighth on a David Fry single, but that's all they would get before the Yankees went ahead in the ninth.
Tanner Bibee will start Game 5 with the Guardians' season at stake. Carlos Rodon gets the starting nod for the Yankees on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 8:08 p.m. ET.
Here's how the action from Game 4 played out, with updates and highlights on Yahoo Sports' live blog:
LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER40 updates
Ian Casselberry
Yankees win 8–6, take 3–1 ALCS lead
Tommy Kahnle closed out the ninth inning for the Yankees in an 8-6 victory.
The game-winning run came to the plate for the Guardians after Jhonkensy Noel drew a one-out walk and Andres Gimenez singled. But Bo Naylor flew out to center field, and Brayan Rocchio grounded out to second base to end the game.
Emmanuel Clase struck out Austin Wells to give himself some breathing room. But the Yankees still had runners on second and third with one out.
Alex Verdugo then hit a weak grounder to shortstop, but Brayan Rocchio can't field the ball as he charges in. That allows Jon Berti to score the go-ahead run.
Anthony Rizzo leads off the top of the ninth with a single off Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase. Jon Berti pinch-runs for him. Anthony Volpe follows with another single, moving Berti to third base.
Two runners on and no outs as Clase faces Austin Wells.
David Fry does it again. He hits a grounder toward first base, which is fielded by Mark Leiter Jr. But Leiter can't toss the ball cleanly to Anthony Rizzo, and it goes between his legs. That allows Bo Naylor to score the tying run.
Again, Leiter was only added to New York's ALCS roster before Game 4 as an injury replacement for Ian Hamilton.
Ian Casselberry
No clutch homer this time for Jhonkensy Noel
Jhonkensy Noel can't repeat his Game 3 home run. He gave the pitch a right down the left-field line, but this one stayed in the park, caught by Alex Verdugo.
After walking Lane Thomas on five pitches, Clay Holmes is out. Aaron Boone is bringing in Mark Leiter Jr., just added to the Yankees' ALCS roster, to face pinch-hitter Jhonkensy Noel with one out and runners on first and second.
Ian Casselberry
Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor make this a 6–5 game
The Guardians have made it a one-run game. Jose Ramirez drove in Brayan Rocchio with a one-out double, then Josh Naylor followed with another double that scored Steven Kwan and Ramirez.
José Ramírez doubles one down the line to make things very interesting in Cleveland 😳 pic.twitter.com/ONzVpDOXYd
Brayan Rocchio walks and goes to third on a Steven Kwan single to begin the bottom of the seventh for the Guardians.
That convinces Aaron Boone to pull Jake Cousins and bring in Clay Holmes. Two runners on and no outs with David Fry coming to the plate.
Ian Casselberry
Joey Cantillo is not a wild thing this time out
After throwing four wild pitches in Game 1 of the ALCS, Guardians reliever Joey Cantillo had a calmer performance in the top of the seventh.
Cantillo walked Alex Verdugo to lead off the frame but then got Gleyber Torres to ground into a double play. He froze Juan Soto on a changeup to finish off a scoreless inning.
Ian Casselberry
Jake Cousins throws a scoreless 6th
The Guardians can't answer in the bottom of the sixth. Jake Cousins came on in relief for the Yankees and allowed a two-out single to Andres Gimenez. But he struck out Bo Naylor to keep Cleveland off the board.
Yankees come to bat in the top of the seventh with a 6–2 lead.
Ian Casselberry
Tim Herrin stops the bleeding
Tim Herrin finished out the top of the sixth, striking out Anthony Rizzo, giving up a single to Anthony Volpe and getting Austin Wells to ground into a force out at second base. But the damage was already done by Giancarlo Stanton.
Guardians now trail 6–2 as they bat in the bottom of the frame.
Ian Casselberry
Giancarlo Stanton launches a 3-run homer
Cade Smith took over for Eli Wilson in the top of the sixth and had a disastrous inning. After walking Juan Soto on five pitches, he gives up a single to Aaron Judge. Jazz Chisholm Jr. moves the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt.
Then Giancarlo Stanton gives the Yankees a 6-2 lead by crushing a fastball over the plate into the left-field seats. And he knew it.
Game 3 walk-off hero David Fry pinch-hit for Kyle Manzardo. Presumably, he'll stay in the lineup at DH.
Ian Casselberry
Eli Morgan retires the Yankees in order
Eli Morgan takes over for Cleveland in the top of the fifth and goes through the Yankees in order.
Austin Wells struck out, Alex Verdugo grounded out to second (swinging at a pitch very low and inside), and Gleyber Torres flies out to center.
Tim Hill now in to pitch for the Yankees as the Guardians come up in the bottom of the inning.
Ian Casselberry
Luis Gil gets a 1-2-3 4th inning
Left-handers Tim Mayza and Tim Hill are warming up in the Yankees' bullpen.
That would seem to indicate that Luis Gil has thrown his last inning of the game. But he retires Andres Gimenez, Austin Hedges and Brayan Rocchio in order to finish the bottom of the fourth.
Erik Sabrowski struck out Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Giancarlo Stanton to begin the fourth inning. Anthony Rizzo blooped a single into left, but Anthony Volpe flies out to center field.
That might be Sabrowski's last inning. Eli Wilson is warming up in the Guardians' bullpen.
Ian Casselberry
Luis Gil srikes out Daniel Schneemann
Luis Gil finally strikes out Daniel Schneemann after a nine-pitch at-bat to end the third inning. Guardians leave two runners on base and trail 3–2 going to the top of the fourth.
Luis Gil does not get a strikeout call on Lane Thomas
Lane Thomas draws a two-out walk on a close checked swing call. (On replay, it looked like Thomas went around, but the call on the field said otherwise.)
Matt Blake comes out to meet with Luis Gil before facing Daniel Schneemann.
Ian Casselberry
Josh Naylor with an RBI single
Steven Kwan reaches base for the second time in two plate appearances, hitting a single to lead off the bottom of the third. He moved to second base on a steal.
Luis Gil got Kyle Manzardo to fly out to right field and Jose Ramirez to pop up to second base. But Josh Naylor slaps a single into left field to drive Kwan in and cut the Yankees' lead to 3–2.
Erik Sabrowski makes Stephen Vogt look good, getting Juan Soto to ground out to first base and striking out Aaron Judge to finish the top of the third.
Ian Casselberry
Pitching change for the Guardians
Gavin Williams is out after 2 1/3 innings. He got Gleyber Torres to ground out to third base, then manager Steven Vogt gave his starter the hook.
Erik Sabrowski takes over for Cleveland with one out in the third.
Williams gave up three runs on three hits, two of them home runs. He struck out four Yankees batters.
Ian Casselberry
Luis Gil throws a scoreless bottom of the 2nd
Brayan Rocchio hit a fly ball to the left-field wall, but Alex Verdugo caught it for the third out of the third inning.
Luis Gil walked Austin Hedges but retired the next three batters he faced. Daniel Schneemann grounded out to second base, followed by Andres Gimenez flying out to center.
Ian Casselberry
Austin Wells goes deep
The Yankees take a 3–1 lead on Austin Wells' solo home run.
Gavin Williams looked like he was settling in after striking out Anthony Rizzo and Anthony Volpe. But then he grooved a fastball down the middle of the strike zone, and Wells didn't miss it.
Guardians get their first two batters on base, too. Steven Kwan draws a walk, then goes to third on a double from Kyle Manzardo.
Here comes Jose Ramirez with no outs.
Ian Casselberry
Gavin Williams settles down after Juan Soto homer
After serving up a two-run homer to Juan Soto, Gavin Williams retired the next three batters. Aaron Judge grounded out to shortstop, Jazz Chisholm Jr. struck out, and Giancarlo Stanton flew out to right field.
Guardians coming up in the bottom of the first.
Ian Casselberry
Juan Soto gives Yankees 2–0 lead
The Yankees start Game 4 with a bang. Gleyber Torres leads off with a single, then Juan Soto crushes a high fastball for a two-run shot.
Aaron Boone on moving Jazz Chisholm Jr. to cleanup
Flip-flopping Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Giancarlo Stanton in the Nos. 4 and 5 spots in the lineup is a curious move. Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters he did so to balance left- and right-handed batters through the middle and bottom of the Yankees batting order.
Why Jazz Chisholm Jr. at cleanup instead of Giancarlo Stanton?
Aaron Boone: "I wanted to move Austin [Wells] down, and as you guys know, I obsess sometimes with the balance of it. I just didn't want to leave it with four out of five lefties [at the bottom of the lineup]."
Yankees closer Luke Weaver blew the save in Thursday's Game 3, allowing two runs on two hits (including a home run) in 1 1/3 innings.
It was Weaver's third appearance of the series, which included a five-out save in Game 1. After Thursday's performance, whether Weaver is tiring from a heavy postseason workload was a question.
Luke Weaver and Clay Holmes have pitched in three out of four days. Boone said he might use “some” relievers four out of five, but would not say which ones.
Gavin Williams makes his postseason debut for the Guardians. During the regular season, he went 3–10 with a 4.86 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 76 innings.
Ian Casselberry
Yankees lineup, Game 4: Jazz Chisholm Jr. at cleanup, Luis Gil makes first postseason start
Jazz Chisholm Jr. is moved up to the cleanup spot, despite batting 2-for-12 in the first three games of the ALCS and .148 in the postseason. Giancarlo Stanton goes down to fifth in the batting order.
Yankees lineup for Game 4:
1. Gleyber Torres, 2B 2. Juan Soto, RF 3. Aaron Judge, CF 4. Jazz Chisholm Jr., 3B 5. Giancarlo Stanton, DH 6. Anthony Rizzo, 1B 7. Anthony Volpe, SS 8. Austin Wells, C 9. Alex Verdugo, LF
Luis Gil starts on the mound for the first time this postseason. The rookie went 15–4 during the regular season with a 3.50 ERA and 171 strikeouts in 151 2/3 innings.
The Yankees' offense is starting to click from top to bottom, while Guardians super-relievers Cade Smith and Emmanuel Clase are showing October fatigue.
With an F1 race and a marquee top-five showdown between the Longhorns and Bulldogs (among many other events), Austin is the center of the sports universe this weekend.