The New York Yankees got the jump in the American League Championship Series on Monday.
The Yankees flew past the Cleveland Guardians to grab a 5-2 win in Game 1 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium. That gave them a 1-0 lead in the series and has them just three wins away from what would be their first World Series since 2009.
The Yankees, with pop star Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce in attendance in the Bronx, took off in the third inning Monday. First, it was Juan Soto who opened the game with a solo home run to deep center field. That was his first home run this postseason.
Joey Cantillo fell apart a bit on the mound after stepping in for starter Alex Cobb. He allowed two more Yankees runs on wild pitches, which gave New York a 3-0 lead. Cantillo eventually struck out Alex Verdugo to end the inning — his second wild pitch bounced in front of the plate, which allowed Giancarlo Stanton to sneak home — but he walked two more batters in the next inning before he was replaced by Pedro Avila.
The Yankees added another run in the fourth when Aaron Judge hit a sacrifice fly to score Gleyber Torres, which pushed the lead to four.
While the Guardians finally got on the board in the sixth off a Brayan Rocchio solo home run and added another run when Steven Kwan hit an RBI single in the eighth, that was as close as they got. The Yankees scored one more off a Stanton solo shot in the seventh and held on to grab the three-run win.
Yankees starter Carlos Rodon had nine strikeouts and allowed just three hits in his six innings on the mound. Luke Weaver came in for a five-out save at the end of the night, and he closed the game by striking out Austin Hedges. Weaver is now the first pitcher since 2017 to record three saves of more than three outs in a single postseason.
The two teams will run it back on Tuesday before the series shifts to Cleveland for Game 3. The Guardians haven’t been past the ALDS since they fell to the Chicago Cubs in the 2016 World Series.
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And that’ll do it. The Yankees officially get the win to take a 1-0 series lead over the Guardians.
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That’s a quick inning for the Guardians there, so we’ll head to the ninth. The Yankees are now just three outs away from a Game 1 win.
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Luke Weaver gets out of a jam
Luke Weaver gets the Yankees out of the eighth, striking out pinch-hitter Will Brennan and getting Jose Ramirez to ground out to second on five pitches.
Yankees coming up in the bottom of the eighth.
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Guardians cut deficit to 5–2
Steven Kwan singles to drive in Andres Gimenez, cutting the Yankees’ lead to 5–2.
That’s enough for Aaron Boone, who brings in closer Luke Weaver for a five-out save opportunity.
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Guardians have runners on 2B and 3B with no outs after interference call
Guardians get two runners on with one out in the top of the eighth. Andres Gimenez singles, then Brayan Rocchio hits a single. However, Tim Hill is ruled to have interfered with Rocchio as he rounded first base. So Gimenez is awarded third base, while Rocchio gets second.
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Giancarlo Stanton gives Yankees 5–1 lead
Erik Sabrowski almost got out of the seventh inning, retiring Aaron Judge and Austin Wells. He then had one strike on Giancarlo Stanton, who crushed a ball to deep left field.
A no-doubter of a home run.
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Clay Holmes throws a scoreless 7th
Three up, three down for the Guardians in the top of the seventh. Lane Thomas grounded out to second base, Josh Naylor flew out to center field, and pinch-hitter Kyle Manzardo struck out.
Seventh-inning stretch time!
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Clay Holmes now pitching for Yankees
Erik Sabrowski struck out Juan Soto to end the bottom of the sixth. Clay Holmes is now taking the mound for the Yankees.
Carlos Rodon’s final line: 6 innings, 1 run, 3 hits and 9 strikeouts.
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Pitching change for Cleveland
After striking out Alex Verdugo and getting Gleyber Torres to fly out to center, Pedro Avila is out of the ballgame. Left-hander Erik Sabrowski now in for the Guardians.
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Long Story Short
MLB.com’s Yankees beat writer Bryan Hoch is having some fun with Taylor Swift in the ballpark:
Carlos Rodon allowed a solo homer in the 6th, but he knew All Too Well that he had to Shake It Off. A big key to his effort tonight was remembering, You Need To Calm Down.
Yankees lead, 4-1.— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) October 15, 2024
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Carlos Rodon gets out of the 6th
Carlos Rodon gets out of the top of the sixth, but Jose Ramirez hit his last pitch (of a nine-pitch at-bat) deep to left center. Aaron Judge tracked it down for the final out of the inning.
Rodon retired three consecutive batters after giving up Brayan Rocchio’s home run, getting a Steven Kwan groundout to third base and a David Fry flyout to right before Ramirez gave his ball a ride.
That was probably Rodon’s last inning. He has thrown 93 pitches.
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Guardians on the board
Brayan Rocchio breaks up Carlos Rodon’s streak of 11 consecutive batters retired with a leadoff home run to left field.
That cuts the Yankees’ lead to 4–1.
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Guardians get much needed 1-2-3 inning
Pedro Avila calmed things down for Cleveland in the bottom of the fifth, retiring the side in order.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. grounded out to second base, Anthony Volpe flew out to the warning track in right field, and Anthony Rizzo flew out to left field.
To the top of the sixth we go with the Yankes leading 4–0.
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Carlos Rodon is rolling
Two more strikeouts for Carlos Rodon in a 1-2-3 top of the fifth. He has nine strikeouts for the game and needed only 11 pitches to finish out the frame.
Rodon has allowed only two hits through five innings on 70 pitches.
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3 fly ball outs for the Yankees in the 4th
Pedro Avila gets three fly ball outs, though one scored a run. Aaron Judge, Austin Wells and Giancarlo Stanton each fly out, and the Guardians finally get out of the fourth inning.
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Aaron Judge has first RBI of the postseason
Yankees lead 4–0 on an Aaron Judge sacrifice fly to center field.
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Cue up “Wild Thing”
Joey Cantillo’s control continues to be an issue. After bouncing two wild pitches and letting two runs score in the third, the left-hander threw two more wild pitches.
He walked Gleyber Torres to lead off the frame. Torres then advanced to second with another wild pitch, throwing a curveball that didn’t curve and went high over Bo Naylor. One more bounced pitch moved Torres to third.
After walking Juan Soto, Cantillo is out. Runners on first and third with no outs as Pedro Avila takes the mound for Cleveland.
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No trouble in the 4th for Carlos Rodon
The fourth inning was where Carlos Rodon ran into trouble during his ALDS Game 2 start versus the Royals.
But he cruises through the fourth against the Guardians, getting Jose Ramirez to line out to center feld before striking out Lane Thomas and Josh Naylor to end the frame.
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Another wild pitch! Yankees lead 3–0
Joey Cantillo bounced another pitch in front of home plate, and Bo Naylor can’t block it. That brings home Giancarlo Stanton for a 3–0 Yankees lead.
Cantillo struck out Alex Verdugo to end the third, but his wildness cost the Guardians.
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Wild pitch gives Yankees 2–0 lead
Joey Cantillo skips a pitch in front of the plate for a wild pitch. Bo Naylor can’t get it, and Aaron Judge scores for a 2–0 Yankees lead.
Cantillo then walked Anthony Rizzo to reload the bases, prompting a visit from Guardians pitching coach Carl Willis.
