Yankees fall to Guardians in 12 innings

NEW YORK — It was the longest game in terms of time played in the Majors this season, and as Juan Soto reflected upon the 12 innings he’d just experienced, the Yankees star believed that it might have been one of his team’s most frustrating.

“It’s more tough to get the loss,” Soto said. “We had the opportunities right there to win the game and couldn’t come through as a team. I think that’s what can drain you a little bit more.”

The Yanks finished the evening 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position, leaving 12 men on in a sloppy contest that required them to squeeze 27 outs from their bullpen after rookie Luis Gil exited early with lower back tightness.

“Especially when you’re not driving in a ton of runs or killing the ball, you’ve got to do everything perfect,” manager Aaron Boone said. “When you’re in a tight game like that, you’ve got to pull those things out.”

Lane Thomas snapped the tie with a pinch-hit, run-scoring double off Tim Mayza in the 12th, keying a six-run frame highlighted by David Fry’s three-run triple off Michael Tonkin, which sent a crowd of 41,426 streaming for the exits.

Judge drove in a couple of runs in the home half, giving him a Major League-leading 114 RBIs, but the deficit was too large to make up in a game that lasted 4 hours, 5 minutes.

Considering how the evening began, the Yankees’ eighth extra-inning loss of the year (in 12 tries) seemed difficult to fathom.

After third baseman Oswald Peraza made a dazzling play to snare an inning-ending foul pop, Soto and Judge secured a piece of franchise history with back-to-back homers off left-hander Matthew Boyd.

Soto lifted a drive into the short right-field porch for his 35th home run of the season, tying his career high. Five pitches later, Judge belted his Major League-leading 45th home run — his 17th first-inning homer this year, eclipsing Babe Ruth’s franchise record of 16, set in 1927.

With five occurrences of consecutive homers this season, the powerful duo stands just one shy of a franchise record set in 2009, when Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira belted back-to-back blasts on six occasions.

Anthony Volpe showed signs of breaking out of his offensive doldrums with two hits, including a game-tying double in the fourth. The Yanks made a bid to grab the lead in the eighth, as Wells banged a pinch-hit double off the center-field wall, missing a homer by inches.

Taking off from first base as a pinch-runner for Giancarlo Stanton, Trent Grisham hesitated near second, waiting to see if Daniel Schneemann could make the play. Grisham then advanced, with third-base coach Luis Rojas briefly flashing a stop sign before sending Grisham, who was cut down at home plate.

“Coming around third, I wasn’t sure if he was sending me,” Grisham said. “I thought he was holding me up. Then I saw the arm late and got a little hesitation around third.”

With Gil out early — having allowed three runs on three hits and six walks in three-plus innings before being examined by a team orthopedist who recommended re-evaluations on Wednesday — five Yankees relievers combined for six scoreless frames through the end of regulation.

That group included closer Clay Holmes, who bounced back from his Major League-leading 10th blown save two days prior in the Little League Classic against the Tigers in Williamsport, Pa., striking out the side around a walk.

“A lot of good things from those guys; good to see them throw the ball the way that they did,” Boone said.

Jake Cousins was sharp, inducing a bases-loaded double play that kept the game tied in the 10th, then pinning two men aboard in the 11th. But New York couldn’t capitalize in the 10th, as Grisham fouled out and Alex Verdugo grounded out against All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase.

In the 11th, DJ LeMahieu heard boos after a strikeout that wrapped an 0-for-5 performance that also included questionable glove work, then Oswaldo Cabrera flied out to leave two men on. LeMahieu is hitting .189 with a .512 OPS in 62 games.

“It’s been rough, no question about it,” Boone said. “He has had moments where he’s gotten it going a little bit, but it’s been tough. I know he’s working his tail off to get it right and be a contributor. At this point, we’ve got to just keep grinding with him.”