NEW YORK — The New York Yankees began the American League Championship Series by getting a strong outing from Carlos Rodon as two of their three sluggers sent pitches over the fences.
The Yankees are hoping to replicate the formula and take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series on Tuesday when they send Gerrit Cole to the mound against the Cleveland Guardians.
The Yankees are seeking their first 2-0 lead in an ALCS since doing so against the Los Angeles Angels in 2009 en route to winning that series in six games and winning the team’s most recent World Series title.
Since then, the Yankees have lost their last five Game 2s of the ALCS, dropping three games to the Houston Astros and one apiece to the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers.
New York began its first ALCS against Cleveland since 1998 by earning a 5-2 victory on Monday. Rodon allowed one run in six innings while striking out nine without a walk a week after taking the loss in Game 2 of the AL Division Series against the Kansas City Royals.
Juan Soto hit his first postseason homer as a Yankee and reached base three times. Giancarlo Stanton also homered and is 7-for-19 (.368) in this year’s postseason.
“I thought we had a lot of good at-bats,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after his team had six hits, seven walks and scored twice on wild pitches. “We had traffic.”
New York first baseman Anthony Rizzo added, “This team trusts each other a lot. No one needs to be the guy. There’s a lot of guys here who have done special things in this game. We just pass it on to the next guy.”
In Cleveland’s first ALCS game since 2016. Steven Kwan extended his postseason hitting streak to 11 games. He is hitting .480 (12-for-25) in this year’s playoffs, but the Guardians struck out 14 times and could not score more than once in the eighth when they pulled within 5-2.
“Tonight where it felt like we were out of it, we got the tying run to the plate multiple times,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said postgame. “This team doesn’t quit, and that’s what I love the most about them. I know we’re going to come back out tomorrow ready to go and fight like we do.”
Cole (1-0, 3.00 ERA) makes his third start of the postseason after pitching twice in the ALDS against the Royals. Cole survived allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits in five-plus innings during Game 1. He was significantly better in Game 4 on Thursday, when he allowed one run on six hits in seven innings.
Cole is 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA in nine postseason starts with the Yankees. He has dominated Cleveland in four career playoff starts, going 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA, 41 strikeouts and two walks in 27 1/3 innings.
“They put a lot of tough at-bats (together),” Cole said about the Guardians on Monday afternoon. “They don’t walk a lot. They put a lot of balls in play. They don’t strike out a lot. They have high contact quality.”
Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee (0-0, 2.08 ERA) will make his third career postseason start after taking a pair of no-decisions in the ALDS against the Detroit Tigers. Bibee allowed four hits in 4 2/3 innings during a 7-0 win in Game 1 and then allowed two runs on four hits in four-plus innings during Game 4 when the Guardians earned a 5-4 win.
Bibee’s only previous start against the Yankees occurred in New York on May 2, 2023, when he permitted two runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings during a no-decision. He opposed Cole in that contest and allowed a solo homer to Anthony Volpe to the short porch in right field.
–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media
