By Tyler Kepner, Chris Kirschner, Brendan Kuty and Zack Meisel
NEW YORK – The New York Yankees struck first in the American League Championship Series on Monday, using a familiar formula in a 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Guardians in the Bronx.
They got six strong innings from their starter, Carlos Rodón. They drew six walks in a nine-batter span in the third and fourth innings. They got homers from two of their top sluggers, Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton, and stellar relief from Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver, who collected the final five outs for the save.
After a shaky night on the mound on Monday — reliever Joey Cantillo had four wild pitches, an AL record for a postseason game — the Guardians will turn to their ace, Tanner Bibee, and a fresh bullpen in Game 2 on Tuesday. But they’ll be facing the Yankees’ best starter, Gerrit Cole, who looked sharp in Kansas City last week in the division series clincher.
The Generational Juan. pic.twitter.com/GFH08rJE0f
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 15, 2024
Redemption for Rodón
Rodón took note of how Gerrit Cole was a “robot” in his outing against the Kansas City Royals in Game 4 of the American League Division Series. Rodón wanted to be more like Cole when he took the ball in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. He needed to be better at keeping his emotions in check, something he did not manage in Game 2 of the ALDS. On Monday, Rodón was an emotionless, strike-throwing machine.
Rodón delivered a masterful performance against the Guardians, going six innings while holding them to just three hits and one run, which came on a solo home run by shortstop Brayan Rocchio in the sixth. Rodón racked up nine strikeouts and 25 swings-and-misses, the most by a Yankees pitcher in the postseason during the pitch-tracking era (2008).
The Yankees debated between starting Rodón and Clarke Schmidt for Game 1. They ultimately chose Rodón because they felt his arsenal would play well against the Guardians, even though they were one of MLB’s best teams against left-handed pitching in the regular season.
It didn’t matter. Rodón delivered an outing that reminded the Yankees why they paid him $162 million two offseasons ago.
Guardians suffer inning from pitching hell
Here’s how the third inning unraveled for Cleveland: home run, walk, a brief delay for trainers to check on Cobb, strikeout, walk, flyout, walk, pitching change, a run-scoring wild pitch, walk, another run-scoring wild pitch, strikeout. That’s three runs on one hit and, for the most part, Yankees hitters simply had to stand in the batter’s box and not move. Cobb exited after 2 2/3 innings, having thrown 65 pitches.
Cantillo, whose first warmup toss traveled to the backstop, didn’t have any semblance of command in a spot offering no margin for error. Only seven of his 21 pitches were strikes. The rookie faced four batters, issued three walks and threw four wild pitches, the same number he tallied in 38 2/3 innings in the regular season.
The Guardians leaned on their bullpen to squeeze past the Detroit Tigers in five games in the ALDS, and for good measure. Cleveland’s relievers posted the league’s best ERA, more than a half-run better than any other bullpen. But to survive a seven-game series against the Yankees, they’ll need more proficiency from their starters. If there’s any silver lining in the Game 1 loss, it’s that Pedro Avila — added to the ALCS roster after serving as chief cheerleader during the ALDS — chewed up 2 2/3 innings in relief of Cantillo. That allowed manager Stephen Vogt to steer clear of his core four relievers: Cade Smith, Tim Herrin, Hunter Gaddis and Emmanuel Clase.
Yankees follow the right blueprint
Whatever script the Yankees had written for Game 1, it probably wasn’t better than how things actually played out for them.
They received perhaps Rodón’s best performance in pinstripes. They applied pressure early to Cobb, knocking him out after 2 2/3 innings and they avoided needing to face Cade Smith and Emmanuel Clase, the best arms in the Guardians’ staunch bullpen.
Their big bats played starring roles, too. Soto started the scoring with a solo homer in the third inning off Cobb, who he had owned in his career entering the night. Aaron Judge contributed a sacrifice fly and scored a run. Stanton blasted a solo homer to extend their lead to 5-1 in the seventh inning. Even Anthony Rizzo contributed with a single up the middle in his first at-bat and a walk — the two fractured fingers on his right hand, which kept him out of the ALDS, clearly didn’t bother him much. Yes, two of the Yankees’ runs came on wild pitches, but they put themselves in position to capitalize on Cleveland’s mistakes.
Stan by me. pic.twitter.com/LTvFe0phAA
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 15, 2024
Things got hairy in the eighth when Tim Hill gave up three straight one-out singles and was hit with a runner interference call, leading to the Guardians scratching together a run. But then Weaver entered with runners on the corners, immediately getting pinch-hitter Will Brennan to strike out and future Hall of Famer José Ramírez to ground out to end the threat. Weaver worked around a walk for a mostly easy ninth inning and his fourth save of the playoffs.
For the Yankees, winning Game 1 at home was huge — and the way they did it was just as important. It should serve as their blueprint for the rest of the ALCS.
Middle of Guardians’ order stays cold
The middle third of Cleveland’s order — José Ramírez, Lane Thomas and Josh Naylor — combined to go 0-for-11. Thomas, obviously, delivered two of the Guardians’ most momentous swings of the season during the ALDS. Ramírez and Naylor, however, have yet to find a rhythm at the plate in October.
Instead, the little offense Cleveland did produce came from two familiar sources: leadoff hitter Steven Kwan and No. 9 hitter Brayan Rocchio, who each have at least one hit in all six of the Guardians’ playoff games. Rocchio homered to left field in the sixth. In the eighth, he singled and advanced to second on interference by pitcher Tim Hill, who blocked his path near first base. (Fans directed a lower-body anatomy chant toward first-base umpire Dan Iassogna after the ruling.) Rocchio has eight hits in 19 at-bats this postseason. His six-game hitting streak to begin his postseason career tied Lonnie Chisenhall (2013-16) and Jhonny Peralta (2007) for the franchise record. Rocchio never mounted a hitting streak longer than four games during the regular season.
Yankees’ curious late defensive sub
Oswaldo Cabrera subbed in for Anthony Rizzo for defense in the ninth inning. Before the game, Rizzo said he’d have to manage his pain tolerance as he works his way back from two broken fingers on his right hand.
Cabrera is not a better defender than the former Gold Glove winner. There was no word on why Rizzo was pulled, but Yankees manager Aaron Boone will be asked about it in his postgame news conference.
(Top photo of Carlos Rodón: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)