Guardians' unexpected season ends with emotional, 10-inning loss to Yankees in Game 5 of tight ALCS

CLEVELAND (AP) — Tanner Bibee couldn't hold back his tears. Several of his teammates sat nearby in a circle on the floor in a corner of a deathly silent clubhouse, almost afraid to move. There were long hugs, heartfelt whispers.

This isn't the way it was supposed to end for the Guardians.

Not like this.

Their surprising season came to a sudden finish late Saturday night with a 5-2 loss in 10 innings to the New York Yankees in Game 5 of an American League Championship Series that seemed to have a little bit of everything.

The Guardians, who overachieved by winning 92 regular-season games and the AL Central title, fought their way past division rival Detroit in the ALDS — beating expected Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal in the decisive game — for a shot at the Yankees with their star-studded roster and $300 million-plus payroll.

For five games, Cleveland gave New York all it could handle.

It wasn't enough.

“They're just a better team,” said Guardians All-Star left fielder Steven Kwan. “Because we’re so close in all those games, I think that’s what makes this sting a little more. Yeah, it was a great year. Kind of hard to be able to look back right now. It’s still so fresh. It hurts pretty bad right now.”

History will show the Yankees won in five games, but the series was tighter than that and could have flipped Cleveland's way.

The Guardians had their chances, so many chances. They put pressure on the Yankees in every game, but couldn't come up with big hits in key spots. The moments were there for them to seize and they let them slip by.

The club's World Series title drought — going back to 1948 — got another year older.

Cleveland left 47 runners on base, finishing 9 of 47 (.191) with runners in scoring position. There will be at-bats that haunt them all winter.

All season long, their aggressive style — “Guards Ball” as it became known — under first-year manager Stephen Vogt rarely materialized against the Yankees, who used their bigger bats to outslug them. New York hit two homers in Game 5 while Cleveland managed just a pair of RBI singles.

But the biggest failure by far was Cleveland's vaunted bullpen, which was baseball's best from April to September but not nearly as good in October.

All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase nearly blew Game 3 but got bailed out and then collapsed in Game 4, giving up two runs in the ninth inning.

Clase regrouped in Game 5, but this time it was Hunter Gaddis, who allowed Juan Soto's three-run homer in the 10th inning as the Yankees ended Cleveland's season in the playoffs for the second time in three years.

“Some of the best hitters in the world got us in this series,” Vogt said. “That’s true.”'

Not long after watching the Yankees celebrate on the Guardians' home field, Vogt, the journeyman catcher who was hired by Cleveland last December despite not having any managerial experience, told his players to keep their heads held high.

His message was simple.

“Remember this feeling,” he told them. “Remember this feeling you have right now because there’s more left on the table for this group. We know we can accomplish more, but be proud of what we accomplished overall and use this to fuel your offseason.”

There was raw emotion throughout Cleveland's clubhouse as players processed that their time together was over. They had grown closer, probably closer that any of them expected during a run no one outside Cleveland saw coming.

Bibee, who rebounded from being pulled in Game 2 after 39 pitches to hold the Yankees to two runs in 5 2/3 innings in Game 5, struggled to complete a sentence without breaking down in tears.

This wasn't the time to dissect every detail or point fingers or think about anything other than supporting each other.

“There’s so many little things that happen,” said All-Star David Fry, who hit a walk-homer in the 10th to win Game 3. “You can overanalyze it all day, but we feel like we’re so prepared that we don’t have to look back and like, oh, I wish I would’ve done this better. We were ready and just didn’t go out our way.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Cleveland Guardians' Andrés Giménez scores as New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells handles the throw at home plate during the fifth inning in Game 5 of the baseball AL Championship Series Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Tanner Bibee reacts after striking out New York Yankees' Aaron Judge during the third inning in Game 5 of the baseball AL Championship Series Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Guardians' Andrés Giménez watches from the dugout during the sixth inning in Game 5 of the baseball AL Championship Series against the New York Yankees Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Cleveland Guardians' José Ramírez walks back to the dugout after striking out against the New York Yankees during the eighth inning in Game 5 of the baseball AL Championship Series Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase throws against the New York Yankees during the ninth inning in Game 5 of the baseball AL Championship Series Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Guardians players watch from the dugout during the 10th inning against the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the baseball AL Championship Series Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Cleveland. The Yankees won 5-2. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents that assess Israel's plans to attack Iran, three U.S. officials told The Associated Press. A fourth U.S. official said the documents appear to be legitimate.

The documents are attributed to the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, and note that Israel was still moving military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran's blistering ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1. They were sharable within the “Five Eyes,” which are the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

The documents, which are marked top secret, were posted to the Telegram messaging app and first reported by CNN and Axios. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The investigation is also examining how the documents were obtained — including whether it was an intentional leak by a member of the U.S. intelligence community or obtained by another method, like a hack — and whether any other intelligence information was compromised, one of the officials said. As part of that investigation, officials are working to determine who had access to the documents before they were posted, the official said.

The U.S. has urged Israel to take advantage of its elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and press for a cease-fire in Gaza, and has likewise urgently cautioned Israel not to further expand military operations in the north in Lebanon and risk a wider regional war. However, Israel's leadership has repeatedly stressed it will not let Iran's missile attack go unanswered.

In a statement, the Pentagon said it was aware of the reports of the documents but did not have further comment.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the leak of the two documents.

The documents first appeared online Friday via a channel on Telegram, claiming they had been leaked by someone in the U.S. intelligence community, then later the U.S. Defense Department. The information appeared entirely gathered through the use of satellite image analysis.

One of the two documents resembled the style of other material from the U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency leaked by Jack Teixeira, an Air National Guardsman who pleaded guilty in March to leaking highly classified military documents about Russia’s war on Ukraine and other national security secrets.

The Telegram channel involved in the leak identifies itself as being based in Tehran, Iran's capital. It previously published memes featuring Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and material in support of Tehran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance,” which includes Middle East militant groups armed by the Islamic Republic.

Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Jerusalem contributed.

FILE - President Joe Biden, right, talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 25, 2024. U.S. officials say the Biden administration believes it has won assurances from Israel that it will not strike Iranian nuclear or oil sites as it looks to strike back following Iran’s missile barrage earlier this month. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic discussions, cautioned that the pledge is not iron-clad and that circumstances could change. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

US investigating unauthorized release of classified documents on Israel attack plans

US investigating unauthorized release of classified documents on Israel attack plans