The Yankees would send ace Gerrit Cole to the bump for game one and the Guardians would send Cal Quantrill to counter.
Both pitchers pitched great games, despite some sloppy defense behind them (Cleveland had 2 errors and the Yankees had 1). The first run of the game came in the 3rd inning when Steven Kwan would take Gerrit Cole deep for a solo homerun giving the Guardians a 1-0 lead. Cleveland would load the bases in the inning, but Cole wiggled out of any further trouble and held Cleveland to just one run. The Yanks would answer right back in the bottom of the inning when Harrison Bader would tie the game with a solo homerun of his own, bringing the game back to even at 1-1.
The game would remain tied going into the bottom of the 5th inning. Josh Donaldson would lead off the inning and hit a ball to deep right off the top of the wall (he would assume it was a homerun and went into his homerun trot) and ended up getting thrown out at first base. Luckily Isiah Kiner Falefa (IKF) would hit a ball over the first baseman’s head, and after a costly error on the right fielder, would end up on third base with only the one out in the inning. Jose Trevino would drive him in with a sac fly, giving the Yanks a 2-1 lead.
New York would add on the remaining two runs of the game in the 6th inning when Anthony Rizzo would take Quantrill deep for a 2-run shot, making it 4-1 Yanks.
New York’s pen would take over with one out in the 7th inning and shut the Guardians bats down the rest of the game, securing the 4-1 Yankees victory.
Players of the Game: Gerrit Cole & Anthony Rizzo.
Cole’s final stat line reads: 6.1 IP, 4H, 1ER, 1BB, 8K
Rizzo would only go 1-4 at the plate, but that one hit was a huge 2-run bomb. He also played fantastic defense and made some nice scoops on low throws, saving errors.
Game 2 of the ALDS will be Thursday night in the Bronx. Shane Bieber will get the start for Cleveland & Nestor Cortes Jr will get the start for New York. First pitch is scheduled for 7:37 EST and can been seen on TBS.
– Jason Harris