CLEVELAND — Each foul ball felt like a countdown to lift off.
In the top of the 10th inning of a tied ALCS Game 5, Juan Soto was entrenched in the kind of battle he had won so many times before. Hunter Gaddis was on the hill, the latest — and, ultimately, last — Cleveland reliever tasked with taming a Yankees lineup that features a flatly overwhelming amount of firepower.
Two batters earlier, Alex Verdugo had hit a ground ball to second baseman Andrés Giménez that appeared primed to be an inning-ending double play.