All of the anticipation of Game 1 came to a rocking halt when Aaron Judge stepped up to the plate in the first inning. He hit a laser over the fence and quickly the Yankees lit things up in Cleveland, a theme that continued throughout 9 innings of play.
Despite the loud artificial crowd noise, and Cleveland's ace Shane Bieber, the Yankees dominated the Indians giving them a slight edge heading into Game 2 today. Not since April 21 of last year has Bieber allowed at least seven runs in a start and yet the Yankees were too much for him in Game 1.
Besides Judge, Luke Voit, Gleyber Torres and veteran Brett Gardner demonstrated their force at the plate and contributed most of the runs, proving true that the team looked at this game as a clean slate and the start of a new journey.
According to CBS Sports, "Momentum may not mean anything but confidence sure does, and Cleveland is a confident team right now. They're good and they know it. The Yankees have been punched in the face a few times this year and they didn't always respond in a great way. This is their last opportunity to get up off the mat and answer the bell." Which clearly happened last night.
Also putting together a stellar performance was Yankee starter Gerrit Cole, who threw 13 strikeouts in 7 full innings. According to MLB Stats, "Gerrit Cole joins Tom Seaver (1973) as the only pitchers with 13+ Ks & 0 BBs in a postseason game." Cole was absolutely electric on the mound, keeping cool and staying locked in.
With last night's 12-3 victory over the Tribe, the Yankees have Masahiro Tanaka on the hill tonight. Let's hope the Yankees can finish things off tonight and move on to the ALDS, ready to compete against one of their AL East rivals, either the Rays or the Jays- both proving to be a challenge to the Bombers during 2020, but with the clean slate in their mind, anything goes for the Yankees.
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof
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