CLEVELAND — Anthony Rizzo found an unlikely path to redemption.
The four-time Gold Glove winner’s two days of defensive near-misses were somewhat washed away Friday when he started the game-winning, ninth-inning rally with a single off MLB’s best closer, helping the Yankees recover from blowing a four-run lead to beat the Guardians, 8-6, in Game 4 of the ALCS.
“The guy has been there, done that,” Aaron Judge said of Rizzo. “He’s played in Game 7 of a World Series and come out on the better end [for the Cubs]. He understands there’s going to be some ups and downs throughout the game and you may … do something bad, but you’ve got the next opportunity.”
It was only a few minutes before his single that Rizzo had an underhand toss from scrambling pitcher Mark Leiter Jr. go through his legs, allowing the tying run to score. A come-backer bounced off Leiter’s foot and rolled to the first base line, where he made a flip that seemed to handcuff Rizzo.
“I tried to stay composed and make a quick flip, but that’s just a tough play,” Leiter said. “You are so close to each other, and I probably got to a blind spot for him a little bit.”
Playing with two broken fingers on his glove hand and a history of back problems, Rizzo has looked less agile than normal at first base.
In the first inning, he jumped for a line drive that could’ve been a double play if he corralled it, but the ball popped out of his glove for a double to set up a run.
Rizzo flushed whatever might have been on his mind, however, when he stepped to the plate against Emmanuel Clase. The flame-throwing right-hander, who had a blown save in Thursday’s Game 3, was greeted with a leadoff single by Rizzo.
Jon Berti pinch ran for Rizzo and scored the winning run. Rizzo finished 2-for-4.
“He always talks about turning the page and moving on to whatever is next,” Tommy Kahnle said after earning the save. “He does a great job of that and he’s instilled it into a lot of the younger guys here. It’s always been a huge thing that he’s preached. Errors, bad pitches, happen. His mentality is not taking that up to his at-bat and getting us started.”
It was only one day ago that Rizzo, 35, entered the game as a defensive replacement for Berti and struggled to handle two hot smashes.
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Rizzo clearly is less than 100 percent but is battling to be part of a potential World Series run because, as he said when the ALCS started, he knows “the clock is only ticking on my age” and “you just never know when you’re going to have an opportunity to play for a pennant again.”