NEW YORK (Interstat) — The Cleveland Guardians defeated the New York Yankees 9-4 on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium, rallying from a one-run deficit with a three-run eighth inning to take the series opener in front of 41,045 fans.

The game lasted 3 hours, 14 minutes.

Cleveland improved to 35-27, while the Yankees dropped to 36-24.

Guardians right-hander Colin Holderman earned the victory, his fourth against one loss. Yankees right-hander Cam Schlittler took the loss, falling to 7-3.

Cleveland’s Travis Bazzana delivered the decisive blow, a three-run double in the eighth inning that broke open a 6-4 contest. The Guardians had scored 12 hits, while the Yankees managed eight.

The game began with a crisp defensive tone. Cleveland went down in order in the first inning, three flyouts to center field off Schlittler. The Yankees also failed to score in the bottom half despite a ground-rule double from Paul Goldschmidt, as two groundouts stranded him at third.

Neither team threatened in the second inning. Cleveland struck first in the third. Patrick Bailey tripled to center field with one out, and Brayan Rocchio followed with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Bailey for a 1-0 lead.

The Yankees answered immediately in the bottom of the third. Ben Rice led off with a single, and Goldschmidt crushed a 2-0 pitch over the left-field wall for his seventh home run of the season, scoring Rice and giving the Yankees a 2-1 lead. Cody Bellinger followed with a single, but the inning ended with a strikeout and flyout.

Cleveland reclaimed the lead in the fourth. Jose Ramirez doubled to right field and moved to third on a flyout. Kyle Manzardo then launched his sixth homer of the year to right-center field, scoring Ramirez and putting the Guardians ahead 3-2. Schlittler then retired the next two batters on strikeouts.

The Yankees again responded in the bottom of the fourth. Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled, and Jose Caballero walked. After a flyout, Ben Rice walked to load the bases. Goldschmidt then lined a single to right field, scoring Chisholm and Caballero to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead. A groundout ended the inning.

Cleveland tied the game in the fifth and took the lead for good. Steven Kwan singled, Bailey reached on a fielding error by third baseman Amed Rosario, and Rocchio was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Bazzana hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Kwan to tie the game 4-4. Ramirez then doubled to right field, scoring Bailey and giving the Guardians a 5-4 lead. After a walk to Chase DeLauter, Schlittler struck out Manzardo and Angel Martinez to limit the damage.

Both teams went quietly in the sixth. Cleveland added an insurance run in the seventh. Rocchio singled to left field, and Bazzana struck out. Ramirez doubled to left field, driving in Rocchio for a 6-4 lead. After a popout, Manzardo singled, but Ramirez was thrown out at home on a relay from shortstop Anthony Volpe to catcher Austin Wells to third baseman Rosario.

The decisive eighth inning began with the Yankees still trailing by two. Camilo Doval took the mound for New York. Angel Martinez singled to center, Daniel Schneemann singled to shortstop, and Kwan laid down a bunt single to load the bases with no outs. Patrick Bailey struck out, and Rocchio struck out on a foul tip, bringing Bazzana to the plate with two outs. Bazzana doubled to right field, clearing the bases and giving Cleveland a 9-4 lead. Ramirez grounded out to end the inning.

The Yankees went down in order in the eighth and ninth. In the ninth, Matt Festa retired the side on a lineout, a called strikeout and a groundout.

Goldschmidt led the Yankees offense, going 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs. Rice had one hit in four at-bats. Trent Grisham went 1-for-3 with a walk. Bellinger had two hits. No other Yankee had multiple hits. Rosario, Caballero, Wells and Volpe combined for no hits in 14 at-bats.

For Cleveland, Ramirez had three doubles and two RBIs. Bazzana drove in four runs with the double and sacrifice fly. Manzardo homered. Kwan had two hits. Bailey had the triple.

The Yankees’ bullpen saw strong work from Brent Headrick, who pitched 1⅔ scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Ryan Yarbrough struck out two in a perfect inning. Tim Hill allowed one earned run on three hits in one inning, striking out one. Doval gave up three earned runs on four hits with two strikeouts in his inning.

The Guardians’ pitching staff held the Yankees to eight hits and struck out 13. Holderman worked the fifth and sixth innings, allowing two hits and striking out three after entering in relief of starter Logan Allen, who was not involved in the decision. Allen allowed four runs on five hits and four walks in four innings, striking out four. Festa pitched the ninth.

The game marked a bounce-back win for Cleveland, which had lost two straight at home to Boston before traveling to New York. The Yankees had won four of their previous five games.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Cleveland 4, New York 8, and its ELO system gave the Yankees a 60.9 percent probability to win. New York was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5 runs. The total of 13 runs went under the over-under line of 7.5.