Yankees' injured reliever Ian Hamilton was replaced on the ALCS roster by Mark Leiter Jr.

By TOM WITHERS

CLEVELAND (AP) — The New York Yankees will be without backup Ian Hamilton for the remainder of the AL Championship Series against Cleveland after he injured his left calf in Game 3 on Thursday night.

The AL East champions replaced Hamilton with Mark Leiter Jr. The move came just hours before Game 4 on Friday.

Hamilton was injured while the right-hander was covering first base in the sixth inning. In the ninth, the Yankees finally blew a 5-3 lead and lost 7-5 to the Guardians, who hit a game-winning home run by rookie Jhonkensy Noel in the ninth and a walk-off by David Fry in the tenth.

New York leads the series 2-1.

Hamilton went 0-1 with a 3.82 ERA in 35 games for the Yankees this season. He missed almost three months due to a side muscle strain. He returned in mid-September and pitched in the ALDS against Kansas City.

In the sixth, Guardians rookie Daniel Schneemann hit a grounder to first baseman Jon Berti, who bobbled the ball. Hamilton rushed to base and appeared to move awkwardly. He threw a wild warmup throw before manager Aaron Boone replaced him.

The team announced that he was suffering from calf strain.

Leiter went 2-1 with a 4.98 ERA in 21 games with the Yankees, who acquired him from the Cubs in July. The 33-year-old posted a 2-4 record with a 4.21 ERA in 39 games for Chicago.

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