NEW YORK — With a pair of mighty swings, a sterling outing from their starting pitcher and yet another steely performance from their newly minted closer, the New York Yankees struck first in the American League Championship Series.
Sluggers Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton each deposited baseballs into the bullpens beyond the outfield fence. Lefty Carlos Rodón allowed just three baserunners in three innings. And Luke Weaver put out an eighth-inning fire and recorded a five-out save as New York defeated the Cleveland Guardians, 5-2, in Game 1 Monday night at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees will send ace Gerrit Cole to the mound in Game 2 on Tuesday night, aiming to take a commanding 2-0 lead before the series shifts to Ohio. Yet they took care of a significant piece of business in grabbing the upper hand.
Rodón, the oft-disappointing $162 million starter, bounced back from a loss in the AL Division Series by keeping his emotions in check and subduing the Guardians. He retired 13 of the final 15 batters he faced, struck out nine and walked none in six innings.
Soto staked him to a third-inning lead with a solo home run to right field in the third inning, and Stanton closed the scoring with a laser over the left field wall in the seventh. In between, Guardians starter Alex Cobb and reliever Joey Cantillo combined to walk six batters and Cantillo allowed two more runs in via wild pitches.
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A trio of singles in the eighth inning created a brief fire, but Weaver – who turned in four spotless outings in New York’s 3-1 conquest of Kansas City in the AL Division Series, struck out pinch hitter Will Brennan and got Jose Ramirez on a soft grounder to second.
He then pitched around a walk in a scoreless ninth.
Here’s how Monday’s game unfolded at Yankee Stadium:
Giancarlo Stanton home run makes it 5-1
Carlos Rodón stellar in Game 1; Yankees up 4-1 through six
NEW YORK – Carlos Rodón kept his emotions in check and then, not coincidentally, suppressed the Cleveland Guardians, too.
Rodón, the Yankees’ $162 million import who has had an uneven first two seasons in New York, overcame a bumpy start and retired 14 of the final batters he faced Monday night as the Yankees took a 4-1 lead against Cleveland in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.
Rodón could not escape the fourth inning of his first postseason start this year, shutting down the Kansas City Royals for three innings but giving up a lead and the game in the fourth. It was the lone ALDS game the Yankees would drop.
Yet Rodón was on point in his ALCS debut, eschewing fist pumps for his strikeouts and opting for maximum efficiency instead. After allowing singles in slogging through the first two innings, Rodón was both quick and ruthless in the innings that followed.
Ten-pitch innings in both the third and fourth. An 11-pitch fifth with two strikeouts. And, after allowing Brayan Rocchio’s leadoff homer in the fifth, he retired his final three batters of the night.
On his 92nd pitch, Rodón broke Cleveland slugger Jose Ramirez’s bat with a 96-mph fastball. On the next pitch, Ramirez lashed a line drive to center field, but Aaron Judge galloped into the gap and ran it down.
There was no exultation, no easily interpreted gleeful expletive captured by cameras. Just a point to Judge for a job well done.
Rodón certainly did his, too: Six innings, nine strikeouts, no walks – and the Yankee bullpen aligned to close it out.
Juan Soto homers, Yankees score more on wild pitches
NEW YORK – Juan Soto managed to eradicate a handful of failings with runners in scoring position with one swing of the bat. And the Yankees seized a commanding lead thanks to just one ball in play.
Soto drove an Alex Cobb sinker out to right field leading off the third inning to drive in the first run of Game 1. Cobb then walked three of the next five batters, ending his night after recording just eight outs, and lefty reliever Joey Cantillo then bounced wild pitches in the following two plate appearances, enabling Yankee behemoths Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to chug home for a 3-0 lead.
Cantillo escaped without more damage, but he and Cobb combined to allow nine baserunners in the first three innings.
ALCS underway at Yankee Stadium
NEW YORK – Game 1 of the American League Championship Series is underway, and it might be a shaky night for the starting pitchers.
Oh, neither the Cleveland Guardians nor New York Yankees scored in the first inning, but both starters struggled a bit through their opening frames in a series where starting pitching is, shall we say, not expected to dominate.
Rodon, who could not complete the fourth inning in his ALDS Game 2 start against Kansas City, needed 20 pitches to suppress Cleveland in the first inning, striking out Lane Thomas to strand David Fry at second base. Right-hander Alex Cobb, making just his fourth start of the season for Cleveland, gave up a first-pitch single to Gleyber Torres and another single to Juan Soto, but struck out Aaron Judge looking and got Austin Wells (groundout) and Giancarlo Stanton (high fly to left) to escape with no damage.
Welcome to New York: Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce at Yankee Stadium
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour stage is being set up in Miami for her concerts this weekend, but it looks like the singer isn’t in Florida. She’s in the Bronx attending the New York Yankees vs. Cleveland Guardians game with beau Travis Kelce.
The couple were spotted in one of the suites out toward right field. Swift sported a black cap and jacket. Kelce sported a black cap that read ‘Midnight Rodeo’ and dark jacket. Seated next to them was comedian Jerrod Carmichael.
– Bryan West
Guardians lineup: ALCS Game 1
Steven Kwan (L) LF
David Fry (R) DH
José Ramírez (S) 3B
Lane Thomas (R) CF
Josh Naylor (L) 1B
Jhonkensy Noel (R) RF
Bo Naylor (L) C
Andrés Giménez (L) 2B
Brayan Rocchio (S) SS
Yankees lineup for Game 1
Gleyber Torres (R) 2B
Juan Soto (L) RF
Aaron Judge (R) CF
Austin Wells (L) C
Giancarlo Stanton (R) DH
Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L) 3B
Anthony Volpe (R) SS
Anthony Rizzo (L) 1B
Alex Verdugo (L) LF
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