Twelve-inning games are not rare in baseball history. But with the new “ghost runner on second” rule, they don’t happen often these days.

The Cleveland Guardians outlasted the New York Yankees 9-5 on Tuesday night, exploding for six runs in the 12th inning.

This was the longest major-league game of the season at four hours and five minutes.

TYPICAL START

New York jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning with its usual vulgar display of power. Juan Soto and Aaron Judge bashed their 35th and 45th homers of the season, respectively.

The Guardians clawed their way into the lead on a fielder’s choice by Bo Naylor in the second, a single by Daniel Schneemann in the third, and a solo homer by Brayan Rocchio in the fourth.

Yankees starter Luis Gil walked Steven Kwan before leaving the game with lower back tightness.

New York tied the score off Cleveland starter Matthew Boyd on a double by Anthony Volpe.

Seven innings of scoreless baseball later, the fans finally saw some fireworks in the 12th inning.

BOMBS AWAY

Lane Thomas, who was hitting only .113 since arriving from Washington, put the Guardians in the lead with a double to score ghost-runner Schneemann. Jose Ramirez singled to score Thomas.

Cleveland loaded the bases, and David Fry unloaded them with his first triple of the season. He scored on an infield hit by Jhonkensy Noel.

The Yankees didn’t give up, as they picked up two runs in the bottom of the 12th on a double by Judge. He leads the majors with 114 RBI.

Tim Herrin, who pitched a scoreless 11th inning for Cleveland, improved his record to 5-0.

The Guardians increased their lead to 3½ games in the AL Central over Minnesota and Kansas City.

They also knocked the Yankees out of first in the AL East, as the Baltimore Orioles took over the top spot.

Game 2 of the series will air on Amazon Prime Video at 7:05 p.m. Joey Cantillo (0-2) will start for the Guardians against the Yankees’ Nestor Cortes (6-10).