CLEVELAND — Every foul ball felt like a countdown to takeoff.

Early in the 10th inning of a tied ALCS Game 5, Juan Soto was locked in a battle he had won so many times before. Hunter Gaddis was on the mound, the final — and ultimately final — Cleveland savior, tasked with taming a Yankees lineup that boasts nothing short of overwhelming firepower.

Two batters earlier, Alex Verdugo hit a ground ball to second baseman Andrés Giménez that appeared to indicate an inning-ending double play. But shortstop Brayan Rocchio was unable to handle Gimenez's hasty, sneaky throw. A play that could have resulted in two outs resulted in none. It was a mistake at the worst possible time from two of the best center field defenders in the world, and Gaddis still had two outs to go. After defeating Gleyber Torres, it was Soto who stood in Gaddis' way to keep the game – and the season – alive for the Guardians.

Gaddis went at Soto with soft stuff, mixing sliders and changeups in different locations in hopes of getting a whiff or weak contact. Soto fended off every offer, gradually shifting the blow in his favor as he gathered information and redirected the pressure on Gaddis to attack with something more straightforward.

On the seventh pitch — and the first fastball of the at-bat — Soto hit cleanly. But the ball was hit at an extremely steep launch angle of 37 degrees, sending it rocketing into space and spinning back into the night sky as everyone on Earth watched and waited. For six and a half seconds, the entire stadium — and an excited Yankees fan base around the world — wondered whether Soto had just hit a home run to send New York to the World Series for the first time in 15 years.

As if there really was any doubt.

One of only three active Yankees to have played in the World Series alongside Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rizzo, Soto has taken this route before. He understands what it takes to make a strong run in October and he has regularly delivered in the biggest moments of the biggest games. Soto is only 25 years old – he turns 26 on Friday, the day the World Series begins – and has already produced as many stunning home runs and clutch hits as possible in his career.

And on Saturday in Cleveland — when that mighty fly ball finally landed behind the midfield wall, giving New York an irresistible 5-2 lead — Soto scored perhaps his most memorable swing yet.

About 90 minutes before Soto scratched the moon with his long ball, Giancarlo Stanton — a legendary October player himself — hit a very different home run that Stanton usually hits: a ridiculous laser beam that practically teleported from his bat to its final landing spot well behind the outfield fence.

Guardians ace Tanner Bibee has been out for more than five innings, answering the call for a short rest and getting off to a good start when his team desperately needed it. The Guardians were hoping for length from Bibee in Game 5 after the previous two games had extremely taxed their bullpen.

This gave Bibee a chance to face the top of New York's lineup for the third time to open the sixth inning. After Torres and Soto reached base to start the frame, Bibee talked Aaron Judge into a double play to lessen the threat and get within one point of not taking any damage.

The dangerous Stanton came in the final spurt.

Stanton swung through a slider and a changeup to fall into a quick 0-2 hole. However, the next three pitches were nowhere near the zone. After the count was completed, catcher Bo Naylor lined up outside, hoping Bibee could get Stanton to chase a slider. But the slider didn't slide quite enough. And against Stanton, as we've seen several times this month, such a mistake has devastating consequences.

Kaboom. Gone. If Soto's home run took what felt like an eternity to hit, it was the exact opposite for Stanton. Immediate contact was made and the result was clear. The ball was clearly vaporized and sent screaming down a line from home plate into the left field stands to decide the game.

Stanton had struck out in his last two attacks against Bibee, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. As manager Aaron Boone explained before the game when asked what sets Stanton apart, Stanton is exceptionally good at applying what he's learned on each consecutive at-bat against the same pitcher.

“He’s just incredibly disciplined, his approach, his process, the way he studies guys,” Boone said. “One thing we've talked about a lot over the years… He benefits more than most from seeing pitchers again and again. So I think he understands it when he faces people… He's shown in his career that he benefits from it almost more than anyone else.

“There’s something he does when he gets comfortable with people and he’s also very physically gifted.”

It is these physical abilities that allow Stanton to hit the ball harder than perhaps any other player in the history of the game. His home run in Game 5 left the bat at 117.5 mph. Since Statcast began tracking batted ball speeds in 2015, no player has hit more home runs with an exit velocity of at least 117 mph than Stanton, with 22. His teammate Judge is a distant second with 10.

“He can hit harder than anyone, so the physical nature of his job is unlike almost anyone else in the world,” Boone said.

While Stanton's swing merely decided the game, it infused the Yankees' dugout with a level of confidence and energy that lasted until Soto put them ahead. It was also the momentum that confirmed what was probably already the case: Stanton was the ALCS MVP. His four home runs in the series brought his career total to 16 in just 36 games in October – an astonishing eight of which came against Cleveland. Only Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Randy Arozarena have a higher career postseason hitting percentage than Stanton.

Six years before the Yankees made a blockbuster deal to sign Soto, it was Stanton who was acquired via trade in the hopes that his big bat could help bring New York back to the promised land. So much has happened in the past few years, and numerous other gigantic transactions have been made in the search for the squad that could finally break through. It's these repeated near misses that continue to motivate the Yankees to acquire superstars when they become available. Soto — whose free agency is the $500 million question this winter — is the latest example.

While Soto managed to deliver the goods in his first year as a Yankee, Stanton had to wait. But now they're teammates, and in one game they combined for two hits that, as general manager Brian Cashman put it as he accepted the AL championship trophy, sent the Yankees back to where they belong.

“I didn’t expect it to take this long,” Stanton said during postgame celebrations in the Yankees’ clubhouse. “But we’re here now and that’s exactly why I came here.”