Mark Leiter Jr.s first day back with Yankees was a heart-stopping adventure

CLEVELAND — The Yankees traded for Mark Leiter Jr.with October in mind.And the right-hander had an up-and-down postseason debut, giving up the tying run, but also getting five key outs and picking up the win in an 8-6 Game 4 victory over the Guardians on Friday night at Progressive Field.Acquired from the Cubs prior to the trade deadline in July, Leiter pitched poorly enough since the trade that he wasn’t included on the roster for the ALDS against the Royals or the ALCS versus Cleveland, but he was added Friday to replace the injured Ian Hamilton, who suffered a left calf strain in Thursday’s Game 3 loss.And Leiter immediately got involved, coming in after Clay Holmes faltered for a second straight night.After an impressive effort to get out of the bottom of the seventh, Leiter gave up the lead in the eighth.The right-hander allowed a leadoff double to Bo Naylor and a grounder that sent Naylor to third.A popup by Steven Kwan put Leiter in position to get out of the inning unscathed, but Leiter mishandled a slow grounder by David Fry and then his toss to first got by Anthony Rizzo, allowing Fry to reach — and Naylor to score the tying run.But the Yankees took the lead in the top of the ninth.Leiter’s night could have been worse, but he bailed out Holmes.With runners on first and second and one out in the seventh in a one-run game, and the Yankees hanging on to a one-run lead, Leiter got one of Thursday’s heroes, pinch-hitter Jhonkensy Noel, to fly out to deep left before Andres Gimenez struck out.General manager Brian Cashman said before the game the Yankees hoped Leiter and his split-fingered fastball would be an effective pitch against Cleveland’s lefty-heavy lineup, making Leiter the choice over other candidates like the inexperienced Cody Poteet and Clayton Beeter.“He’s had a hell of a year, just not as good [after] he got here for us,” Cashman said of Leiter, who had a WHIP of 1.101 in 36 ⅓ innings as a Cub this season and a 1.708 WHIP i...