Jhonkensy Noel's unthinkable game-winning home run was the unforgettable moment of the Guardians' ALCS Game 3 win over the Yankees

CLEVELAND, Ohio – You don't just hand someone a bat and tell them to hit a home run.

Not with two failures at the end of the ninth round. Not when your team is down 5-3 after blowing the lead in the most shocking way. Not with the man who has more than a month and 76 plate appearances under his belt since leaving the court as the best option.

You just don't do it.

But manager Stephen Vogt and the Guardians did. And Big Christmas made it possible.

Jhonkensy Noel's game-winning, close-hit home run in the bottom of the ninth on Thursday sent Game 3 of the American League Championship Series into extra innings, in which David Fry himself hit a two-run walk-off pitch in a 7-5 Guardians victory.

Fry said the script called for Cleveland's gentle giant to wrest the spotlight from the grasp of New York's MVP and captain Aaron Judge, who had hit his own game-winning home run early in the eighth against otherwise stalwart closer Emmanuel Clase.

“It's like, 'Come on, big boy, hit a two-run home run,' and he did,” Fry said. “It's so cool.”

Noel's no-doubt blast against Yankees closer Luke Weaver made it 1-0, hanging tantalizingly over the middle of the field. Weaver said it was the worst pitch he threw all night.

“The ball just came out of my hands a little differently,” Weaver told reporters afterward. “He took an aggressive swing and he got it done. The way he swung at it made me think he was looking for it.”

Noel said his plan was to look for a throw close to his body and, when he found one, take a good swing at it.

“It was about location,” Noel said through Guardians interpreter Agustin Rivero. “That's kind of my strength and I knew if he threw a fastball (first) and then made the changeup like he did, I could do it.”

The home run was the sixth game-winning postseason home run in the ninth inning or later in Major League history and only the second in Cleveland history, along with Albert Belle in Game 1 of the 1995 AL Division Series against Boston.

Belle's solo home run (and subsequent bicep flexor) off Rick Aguilera in the 11th inning allowed Cleveland to walk off Tony Peña's game-winner in the 13th inning in the first postseason game at the stadium, then known as Jacobs Field.

The last time a pinch-hit home run tied a playoff game in the ninth inning or later was Game 3 of the 2012 ALDS, when the Yankees' Raúl Ibanez hit a solo shot to beat Baltimore.

Noel had gone 1-for-15 in the postseason and had not recorded an extra-base hit in 41 plate appearances. His last home run came on August 30 against Pittsburgh, a span of 76 plate appearances without leaving the yard.

But Vogt told Noel to grab a bat for one reason and one reason only.

“He pinch-hit to hit a home run,” Vogt said. “That’s why we sent him there.”

Noel said he knows every time his name is called, it's because Vogt and the Guardians' coaches believe in him and trust him.

“They’ve done that all year,” Noel said. “I know that whenever the duel makes sense for them, they will trust me in that situation.”

Vogt said the moment was never too big for Big Christmas, and the Dominican native hadn't thrown a major swing with the bat until that moment in the 10th inning.

“No matter what happens — if he’s fighting, not fighting, whatever — he’ll step up and give you everything he’s got once he gets there,” Vogt said. “It didn’t accelerate. He is not afraid of the big moment. We saw that in his debut. We’ve seen it time and time again.”

The reaction in the dugout to Noel's explosion was overwhelming.

“It was an astonishment,” Fry said. “There was so much excitement, but then I just thought, 'Oh yeah, of course Jhonkensy hit a game-tying home run against a guy who was throwing 98 and throwing a changeup, and he hit him for a home run. ' Nobody does that.”

Game 3 starter Matthew Boyd said the players felt Noel had a chance at a big moment.

“You just knew something good was going to happen,” Boyd said. “These guys who are coming to the top. Man, it's not the first time he's come through in such a big moment. I’m so happy for him.”