The score of Game 1 of the ALDS series was 4-1 in favor of the Yankees. But Aaron Judge didn’t hit a home run to anchor their win. It was Gerrit Cole who emerged as the x-factor to guide them to victory. As Cleveland focused on stopping Judge, Anthony Rizzo and Harrison Bader exploited the opportunity to score homers to give the Yankees a lead in the ALDS.
This demonstrated exactly why the New York Yankees were such heavy favorites to win the American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians.
The Guardians had the first lead following a home run by Steven Kwan in the third. Cleveland also had runners on first, second, and third with one out, ready for a big hit. But Cole, who gave more homers than any other starter, bounced back and got out of the jam by getting a fielder’s choice at home and a strikeout. After that, he didn’t have to do much more. He finished the night with eight strikeouts, four hits, one walk, and just one run allowed giving the Yankees a reason to rejoice.
Previously, we have forecasted that Cole was going to be the x-factor for the Yankees in the playoff.
Harrison Bader, who the Yankees got in a last-minute trade, tied the game with a solo shot in the bottom of the third. Josh Donaldson thought that he had given the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the fifth, so he did a home run trot. But the ball hit the top of the short porch, and Donaldson was out at first base because he was confused. The Yankees quickly made up for it, though.
The next batter, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, hit a single and moved to third when right fielder Oscar Gonzalez made a mistake. Jose Trevino’s sacrifice fly put the Yankees ahead.
Cal Quantrill walked the first batter, Aaron Judge, in the sixth inning, but Anthony Rizzo did the damage by hitting a two-run shot into the second deck, giving the Bombers a 4-1 lead.
Cole ended his pitching with a standing ovation. Though Jonathan Loaisiga had the tying run, ex-met and now the Guardians’ outfielder Amed Rosario grounded ending the threat. This put Jose Ramirez without any significant contribution. In the eighth inning, the Guardians also grounded into a double play, thus ending their chances.
The Yankees effectively stopped Cleveland’s young team to steal bases, which is their strength.
The Yankees bullpen was a big question mark going into the playoffs. It has been hurt all year and hasn’t been consistent, and they don’t have a true closer right now. Loaisiga, Wandy Peralta, and Clay Holmes proved it wrong and put together 2.2 innings in which no runs were scored.
So far in the playoffs, the Cleveland franchise has only scored four runs, and all of them have come from home runs.
Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday night, but the weather conditions lead to apprehensions over having a good game. So, it’s still not clear if it will go on as planned or be moved to Friday.
Nestor Cortes will try to give the Yankees another great game and put them up 2-0 in the series. Shane Bieber, who will win the AL Cy Young Award in 2020, will try to give Cleveland a much-needed road win.
Can the Yankees repeat their performance on Thursday?
