Anthony Rizzo made up for two days of miscues with one big Yankees at-bat

CLEVELAND — Anthony Rizzo found an unlikely path to redemption. The four-time Gold Glove winner’s two days of defensive near-misses were somewhat washed away Friday when he started the game-winning, ninth-inning rally with a single off MLB’s best closer, helping the Yankees recover from blowing a four-run lead to beat the Guardians, 8-6, in Game 4 of the ALCS. “The guy has been there, done that,” Aaron Judge said of Rizzo.“He’s played in Game 7 of a World Series and come out on the better end [for the Cubs].

He understands there’s going to be some ups and downs throughout the game and you may … do something bad, but you’ve got the next opportunity.” It was only a few minutes before his single that Rizzo had an underhand toss from scrambling pitcher Mark Leiter Jr.go through his legs, allowing the tying run to score.

A come-backer bounced off Leiter’s foot and rolled to the first base line, where he made a flip that seemed to handcuff Rizzo. “I tried to stay composed and make a quick flip, but that’s just a tough play,” Leiter said.“You are so close to each other, and I probably got to a blind spot for him a little bit.” Playing with two broken fingers on his glove hand and a history of back problems, Rizzo has looked less agile than normal at first base.

In the first inning, he jumped for a line drive that could’ve been a double play if he corralled it, but the ball popped out of his glove for a double to set up a run. Rizzo flushed whatever might have been on his mind, however, when he stepped to the plate against Emmanuel Clase.The flame-throwing right-hander, who had a blown save in Thursday’s Game 3, was greeted with a leadoff single by Rizzo. Jon Berti pinch ran for Rizzo and scored the winning run.

Rizzo finished 2-for-4. “He always talks about turning the page and moving on to whatever is next,” Tommy Kahnle said after earning the save.“He does a great job of that and he’s instilled it into a lot of t...