Yanks rally, beat Indians 10-9 to reach ALDS vs rival Rays

CLEVELAND (AP) — DJ LeMahieu's tiebreaking single in the ninth inning off Cleveland closer Brad Hand sent the New York Yankees into the AL Division Series with a wild 10-9 win over the Indians early Thursday in a rain-delayed Game 2 that started in September and ended in October.

At 4 hours, 50 minutes — even without the delays — it was the longest nine-inning game (regular season or postseason) in major league history, ending after 1 a.m.

“I don’t know how you top that one — the back and forth, the amount of big plays,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "Tonight just had that feeling that these guys weren’t going to be denied. They weren’t going to lose.”

The Yankees will play rival Tampa Bay in a best-of-five Division Series next week in San Diego. New York went 2-8 during a testy season series with the top-seeded Rays, who won the AL East by seven games over the second-place Yankees.

“They’ve been the best team in our league all year, so we’re excited to play the best team and hopefully can have our way with them,” Boone said.

LeMahieu, the AL batting champion during the shortened, 60-game regular season, grounded his hit into center field to score Gio Urshela, who hit a go-ahead grand slam earlier and made a huge defensive play at third base.

“That was one of the best games I’ve played in my life,” Urshela said.

Down 9-8, the Yankees tied it in the ninth on Gary Sánchez's sacrifice fly off Hand, who went 16 of 16 on save tries during the season.

The Yankees stumbled into the playoffs. But their heavy-hitting lineup got rolling over two nights in chilly, mostly empty Progressive Field. New York pounded Cleveland ace Shane Bieber in the opener and now the Yankees, who hit seven homers in the two games, have found their swing as...

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