Luke Weaver records most fitting final out possible to send Yankees to ALCS

For all the flak New York Yankees fans gave their team after the first two games of the ALDS, the Bombers delivered in their two contests on the road to capture the series against the Kansas City. Royals. The Yankees won Game 4 by a score of 3-1 to advance to the ALCS.

Giancarlo Stanton was the hero in Game 3, and he came up huge on Thursday night in Game 4 with a massive insurance run. He went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI single in the sixth inning to give the Yanks a 3-0 lead. That came after Juan Soto and Gleyber Torres delivered RBI knocks in the first and fifth to get New York on the board and extend their lead.

But Gerrit Cole gets the game ball for his efforts. The Yankees badly needed a lengthy start from their ace, and he gave them seven strong innings. He allowed just one run on six hits. He didn't walk a batter.

He did give up some hard contact. In fact, he nearly gave up the game-tying home run in the bottom of the seventh, but the wind kept the ball in the park at Kauffman Stadium.

Take a breath, Yankees fans. We'll see ya on Monday for the ALCS with New York set to take on the winner of Saturday's Game 5 matchup between the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers.

That fly out got Cole out of the inning, and manager Aaron Boone saw enough, even though the right-hander was only at 87 pitches. Clay Holmes was called upon next, and he continued his hot streak with a scoreless inning on 10 pitches. What a rebound for the embattled reliever.

And then it was up to Luke Weaver to handle the ninth. Did you expect anything less than a lights-out showing? This guy has been absolutely insane, and he set the Royals down 1-2-3 to win the game. The last out of the series? Former hated Houston Astro Yuli Gurriel. All is right in the world again (for now).

The Yankees never let Michael Wacha get comfortable. They knocked in a run off the Royals' best reliever in Lucas Erceg. They went 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position and only struck out four times. Their eight hits and five walks were just enough to lay the Royals to rest.

How about some edge to carry into the ALCS, too? The benches cleared in this affair after Maikel Garcia and Anthony Volpe made contact on a double play at second base. Volpe wasn't taking any nonsense from the Royals, who were clearly trying to agitate. Kansas City put up a good fight, but that certainly wasn't going to tip the scales. The Yankees stood their ground and delivered the last punch.

Boone once again managed a very good game to ensure the Yankees never wavered, but he definitely needs to make some lineup changes, with Austin Wells and Jazz Chisholm continuing to kill rallies.

For now, the Yankees will enjoy a couple of days off, and can exhale as they passed their first test of the 2024 postseason. The audition to re-sign Juan Soto continues, and Aaron Judge hit his FIRST DOUBLE IN THE POSTSEASON since 2018. Maybe this is the official start of something memorable.

But we know all too well there will be something to critique just hours before the start of Game 1 of the ALCS, so fans better get the necessary rest to come back full of energy on Monday.