About Last Night: Yankees 6, Guardians 3

About Last Night: Yankees 6, Guardians 3

By Derek McAdam

October 16, 2024

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The New York Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians by a score of 6-3 to take a 2-0 lead in the ALCS. Here’s a recap of last night’s game.

Quick Stats:

• W: Clay Holmes: 0.2 IP, 1 BB, 1 K

• L: Tanner Bibee: 1.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 2 K

• Aaron Judge’s 7th inning home run was his 14th career blast in the post-season.

The Big Story:

The Yankees were coming off a strong start in Game 1 from Carlos Rodon, and Gerrit Cole was seeking to follow up with a solid start of his own.

As with similar post-season games, it did not take the Yankees long to have their first scoring opportunity. Gleyber Torres led off the bottom of the 1st with a double, with Juan Soto following up with a single to advance Torres to third. Aaron Judge then popped up to Brayan Rocchio near second base, but the shortstop dropped the ball. This allowed Torres to score and give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. However, Bibee was able to retire the next three batters without any more damage done.

In the 2nd, Anthony Volpe led off the inning with a single. Anthony Rizzo then followed up with a single of his own to advance Volpe to third. Alex Verdugo, the next batter, slapped an RBI double down the left field line to score Volpe and give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Torres then popped up and Soto was intentionally walked to load the bases for Aaron Judge. This was a huge move, one that if Judge were hitting, no team would ever make. Bibee was removed from the game, only recording four outs. Judge hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Rizzo, giving the Yankees a 3-0 lead.

The Guardians would threaten in the 3rd, with runners on first and second with only one out. But, Kyle Manzardo popped out to Jazz Chisholm Jr. before Cole got Jose Ramirez to fly out to Judge, ending the inning. The Guardians would also load the bases in the 4th, although Cole was able to strike out Rocchio to end the inning, keeping the Guardians off the board.

Once again, the Guardians would load the bases to start the 5th, this time with no outs. Josh Naylor hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Steven Kwan and put the Guardians on the board, down 3-1. After walking Lane Thomas, Cole would be yanked from the game, leaving the bases loaded. Clay Holmes came in, and on the first pitch, Will Brennan hit into an RBI groundout to score another run for the Guardians, making the new score 3-2 Yankees. However, Holmes got out of the bases-loaded jam by striking out Austin Hedges.

In the 6th, Chisholm led off the bottom of the inning with a double, followed by Volpe working a walk, putting the two fastest Yankees on the bases for Anthony Rizzo. However, Chisholm was picked off second base for the first out, a big blow to the inning. Rizzo then slapped an RBI double down the right field line to score Volpe and give the Yankees a 4-2 lead, one that should have been 5-2. Rizzo also got caught on the bases. Two bad base running plays.

In the 7th, with Torres on first, Aaron Judge hit a two-run home run to center field to give the Yankees a 6-2 lead. That home run was Judge’s 14th career post-season home run.

Luke Weaver came on to close the game out, although it was not a save scenario. Jose Ramirez hit a solo home run to cut the Yankee lead to 6-3, although Weaver would get the next two outs to secure a win.

Player of the Game:

Although there are several candidates I would give this to, Tim Hill is going to get this honor. He gave the Yankees five scoreless outs from the bullpen and even faced and retired the tough hitters at the top of the order.

Notable Performances:

Gleyber Torres continues to hit well in the leadoff spot, having three hits last night. Judge’s home run was also a huge hit that gave the Yankees two more insurance runs. But the bullpen also kept the Yankees in this game, and the relief pitchers continue to shine this post-season.

Better to Forget:

Austin Wells did not have a great night at the plate, although he did put together a nice at-bat in his final at-bat. If he can provide good defense behind the plate, as he has, the Yankees will take it.

My Take:

What a game this was for the Yankees! They found several ways to score, including a home run, sacrifice fly, doubles, and even some luck from the error in the 1st. They lead the series 2-0.

I wrote last week about how the Yankees must take advantage of opportunities early on in the game. Once again, Judge found himself in a situation with two runners on in the 1st and no one out. While it should have been the first out, the Yankees got lucky and scored a run. But that was it… The Yankees could not even take advantage of runners on first and second with no one out.

In the 2nd, I was worried a similar situation would arise when they had bases loaded with one out and Judge up. The one play I feared more than anything was a double play. In fact, I remember telling myself that if Judge grounded into a double play, the Guardians were going to win the game. It would have been a huge momentum shift for the Guardians, but Judge came through with the sacrifice fly and put a run across the board.

Gerrit Cole did not have his best start by any means. And with the exception of the 5th inning, he was continuing to find ways to work himself out of trouble. That is what the ace of the squad can do, even if he was not having his best game locating pitches. If the Yankees go to six games, which I hope they do not, Cole will be back on the mound. I have a feeling that he will have a bounce back start similar to Rodon’s start from Monday night.

Going into Cleveland, the Yankees need to continue to keep their foot on the gas and keep the pressure on. Cleveland had the best record at home among AL teams this season and it will be a tough environment to play in. Stephen Vogt made decisions in Game 2 as if the Guardians were facing elimination, and I expect him to continue managing that way for the rest of this series. I also expect that he will get that message across to the players before Thursday’s game.

Overall, this was a nice win for the Yankees, and hopefully, they can ride this momentum into tomorrow’s game.

What’s Next?: The Yankees will head to Cleveland for Game 3 of the series. Clarke Schmidt is scheduled to start for the Yankees, while Matthew Boyd is scheduled to start for the Guardians. First pitch will be tomorrow evening at 5:08 p.m EST from Progressive Field.