In October, when the ugly wins, sometimes it looks more beautiful.
For the Yankees, they have a 2-0 lead in the ALCS and appear to be just two wins away from advancing to the World Series.
Yet another night, the Yankees squandered an early chance to take the game ahead, and they had enough until Aaron Judge finally woke them up with a two-run home run to give them a 6-3 victory over the Guardians. I accomplished it. It's a chilly Tuesday night in the Bronx.
The Yankees seem to be playing the same game almost every night in October, and so far that has proven to be a winning formula against two teams from the Central Division of the AL.
“We're not satisfied,” Anthony Rizzo said. In his second game back after breaking two fingers, he gave up two hits with another wicked effort. “We know the Guardians are a very good ball club and being up two games doesn't mean anything to us. We need to get in. [Cleveland]will be hostile and take care of business. ”
In Game 2 of the ALCS, Gerrit Cole didn't make it to the fifth inning.
The Yankees had a double in the same inning and had 2 of 10 hits with runners in scoring position, but have dropped to 8 of 52 hits this postseason.
Still, the Guardians made two errors that led to two runs for the Yankees.
Their starter, Tanner Bibby, lasted only 1¹/₃ innings after Alex Cobb pitched 2¹/₃ innings in his first game start.
In the second inning, he intentionally walked Juan Soto to force Judge to load the bases, but all things considered it all worked out as Judge hit a sacrifice fly.
But Judge ended the night with the last laugh, hitting a two-run blast to center field in the seventh inning for his first home run of the playoffs, making the game 6-2.
“I was excited after the game,” the judge said. “You'll never know what happens to your ball when you hit it into center field here on a windy, chilly night, but I'm sure ghosts were dragging it all the way to Monument Park.”
The Yankees' bullpen took care of the rest, with Clay Holmes, Tim Hill (5 outs), and Tommy Kahnle (4 outs) closing the gap until the 9th inning with three scoreless innings.
Luke Weaver then allowed a solo shot to Jose Ramirez, giving up his first unearned run since September 2nd, but still securing the win.
Cole had a great performance in Game 4 of the ALDS, but he was lackluster on Tuesday, pitching just 4 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and four walks, with four strikeouts.
He went three scoreless innings and got out of a base-loaded jam in the fourth, but he wasn't as lucky in the fifth.
But Holmes, thanks to a right elbow from Austin Wells, blocked Holmes' bouncing sweeper from going to the backstop and prevented him from tying the run at third base — ending the inning with a 3-2 lead. .
The Judges' night started in a familiar spot, with Gleyber Torres (three hits) and Soto on base in the first inning.
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This time, he got a gift when Torres skated off a pop-up dropped by Brayan Rocchio and scored for a 1-0 lead.
The Yankees took the lead in the second inning with back-to-back singles by Anthony Volpe and Rizzo, putting runners on the corners, and Alex Verdugo hit a double down the left field line to make it 2-0. .
After one out, the Guardians intentionally walked Soto, forcing Judge to load the bases, brought in tough right-hander Cade Smith, and the likely AL MVP settled for a sacrifice fly.
The Yankees added another run in the sixth inning when Volpe, assisted by a bobble from right fielder Will Brennan, scored the first run on Rizzo's double.
It could have been a bigger inning if Jazz Chisholm Jr. wasn't picked off at second base (looking for a big lead with a steal of second) and Rizzo wasn't caught between second and third base on a dirt ball. .
“I don't think we're playing our best baseball like the Yankees,” Chisholm said. “For us, I think we're playing much better baseball than we've played since the first postseason game. I think there's a lot more to come.”
