NEW YORK (AP) — Juan Soto’s home run punctured Cleveland pitching, which then went wild.
Soto put New York ahead in a three-run third inning, Carlos Rodón got his first postseason win and the Yankees beat the Guardians 5-2 on Monday night in an AL Championship Series opener that included Cleveland throwing five wild pitches and walking nine batters.
Giancarlo Stanton added his 13th career postseason homer for the Yankees, who are seeking a record 41st AL pennant and their first since winning the 2009 title.
“Getting the start-off win is big,” Stanton said. “It’s a message in its own.”
Cleveland became the second team to throw a pair of run-scoring wild pitches in a postseason inning and tied a postseason record with five overall. Guardians pitchers walked six in a nine-batter span and nine overall.
“They don’t chase a whole lot,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “If I take something away from tonight, we just need to attack the zone better.”
New York batters have walked 36 times in five postseason games.
“That’s what they’re capable of. That’s in their DNA,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We beat that over — we hammer it.”
Game 2 is at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night. Entering this year, teams taking the opener of a series with a 2-3-2 format have won 66 of 99 times.
Soto came in 7 for 11 with two homers against Cobb. Before a sellout crowd of 47,264 that included pop star Taylor Swift, Soto hit his first postseason homer for New York when he drove a high slider from Alex Cobb into the Yankees’ bullpen in right-center.
He made a circle sign toward the relievers with his hands as he rounded first.
“It’s only me and the bullpen.” Soto said, smiling. “We keep it to ourselves.”
Rodón rebounded from the Yankees’ only loss in the Division Series, limiting the Guardians to a pair of singles before Brayan Rocchio’s sixth-inning homer.
“The goal was to just stay in control, stay in control of what I can do, obviously physically and emotionally,” Rodón said. “I thought I executed that well tonight.”
Stanton’s seventh-inning homer boosted the lead to 5-1. Steven Kwan cut the Guardians’ deficit when he extended his postseason hitting streak to a team-record 11 games with an RBI single in the eighth off Clay Holmes.
