Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton homered as the New York Yankees picked up a 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night in The Bronx.
Soto set the tone with a third-inning solo shot, his first of the postseason. Later in the frame, the Yankees worked two bases-loaded walks to extend their lead to 3-0.
Aaron Judge pushed the lead to 4-0 in the fourth with a sacrifice fly before Stanton capped the scoring with a 439-foot home run in the seventh.Â
Carlos Rodón fired six innings of one-run ball while striking out nine. He generated five swings-and-misses, the most in a postseason game by a Yankees pitcher since pitch tracking started in 2008.
Tim Hill surrendered the other run, while Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver posted scoreless outings, with Weaver notching another five-out save.
Game 2 of this best-of-seven series is set for Tuesday at 7:38 p.m. Gerrit Cole will take the ball for the Yankees, while Tanner Bibee will start for the Guardians.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].