After missing the playoffs last season, the New York Yankees are going back to the American League Championship Series.
After defeating the Kansas City Royals, 3-1, on Thursday night at Kauffman Stadium, they can pop the champagne as they await their opponent.
With a wild win from the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday night, their Division Series with the Detroit Tigers heads to a Game 5 on Saturday.
This is the second time in Aaron Boone's tenure that the Yankees have made it to the ALCS since he took over as manager in 2018 and the first time since 2022.
The moment the Yankees clinched their spot in the ALCS pic.twitter.com/3JOgBE9E2k
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) October 11, 2024
Both times, the Yankees were defeated by the Houston Astros, who swept New York in 2022 and won the series 4-2 during the 2019 series.
Game 1 of the ALCS is currently scheduled for Monday, Oct. 14, at 7:37 p.m. ET at Yankee Stadium,which means it's unlikely Gerrit Cole would be ready to throw.
The Yankees got on the board early in Thursday's series-clinching win over the Royals. Gleyber Torres hit the first pitch of the game for a leadoff double, and Juan Soto knocked him in with an RBI single.
Meanwhile, Giancarlo Stanton continued his torrid hitting, going 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a walk.
The Yankees got a fantastic outing from Gerrit Cole, who went 7.0 innings, six hits, one run, four strikeouts and no walks on 87 pitches. Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver delivered 1-2-3 innings to close out the game.
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