Game 1 of the AL Wild Card matchup Tuesday at Progressive Field in Cleveland saw the Yankees get off to a solid beginning and not let up. The Yankees woke up on offense, played clean guard and got a prototypical pro presentation in a 12-3 win over the Indians.
Eight things to know from Tuesday’s game
1. Against the possible AL Cy Young Award victor in RHP Shane Bieber, who went 8-1 with a 1.63 ERA through 12 beginnings crossing 77 1/2 innings, the Yankees conveyed a season-most noticeably terrible excursion for Bieber.
Permitting multiple runs without precedent for 2020, Bieber got off to a helpless first-inning start and never completely recouped. Tossing 105 pitches (62 strikes) in only 4 2/3 innings, Bieber gave up seven runs (all earned) on eight hits (two homers), striking out seven while strolling two.
2. To get the Yankees moving, 2B DJ LeMahieu begun with a line-drive single to directly after Bieber fell behind 2-0. On the extremely next pitch, RF Aaron Judge squashed a two-run homer to right-focus field, serving a punch in the face as the Yankees took a 2-0 lead.
3. Bieber resigned eight of his next nine hitters, however he gave a two-out stroll to CF Aaron Hicks in the third inning and the Yankees scratched a stumble into. 1B Luke Voit multiplied on a line drive to left-focus field, and Hicks scored came around from first, destroying a toss and building the Yankees’ 3-0 lead.
4. The Yankees kept at Bieber with a two-run fourth inning, taking advantage of a one-out stroll to SS Gleyber Torres. Up next, LF Brett Gardner – getting the begin once again Clint Frazier – lobbed a twofold on a fly ball to profound left-focus field that scored Torres from first. Successive singles by C Kyle Higashioka (ground ball to short) and LeMahieu – an infield hit up the center that he legged out on his approach to first – scored Gardner and put the Yankees in order of a 5-1 lead.
5. Bieber appeared to get comfortable once more, resigning the following four hitters – including a triplet of strikeouts – yet couldn’t close the entryway during a tempestuous fifth inning. With two outs, 3B Gio Urshela singled up the center. Torres then took a 2-2 pitch into the left-focus seats, throwing a knockout jab to Bieber and putting the Yankees ahead 7-2.
6. For good measure, the Yankees broke out a victory with a five-run seventh inning. Ushela’s one-out yielded fly to right scored Hicks, attaching a run for the Yankees’ 8-2 lead. On the main pitch of the following at-bat, Torres singled to focus and scored Voit. Gardner at that point cleared the middle field divider with a 1-1 homer that scored Torres, putting the Yankees up 11-2.
7. DH Giancarlo Stanton presented the Yankees’ fourth and last grand slam with a one-out performance shot to left in the ninth inning, finishing the Yankees’ 12-2 pad. He had been hitless with two strikeouts, so his fifth appearance could be a certainty boosting one.
8. It flew to some degree under the radar in light of a flipped switch by a resurgent hostile exhibition at the plate, yet RHP Gerrit Cole gave the Yankees a required pro excursion. Cole pitched with an early lead and restricted the harm later on, dispersing two runs in the third and fourth innings.
3B Jose Ramirez’s third-inning twofold with sprinters at the corners, in a two-out circumstance after a couple of singles, put the Indians on the board with a 3-1 score. Cole surrendered an a long grand slam to right-focus field by LF Josh Naylor, however it was a performance shot that solitary made the edge 5-2.
Cole traveled the remainder of the route with an extensive beginning, turning in a seven-inning exertion and yielding six hits. He struck 13 out and strolled none on 105 pitches (73 strikes). His strikeouts were the most by a Yankees pitcher’s postseason debut and approached an establishment record set by previous RHP Roger Clemens, who fanned 15 in Game 4 of a 5-0 ALCS prevail upon the Seattle Mariners on Oct. 14, 2000.
What’s next
Playing a best-of-three arrangement, the Yankees hope to progress with Game 2, a 7 p.m. start Wednesday on ESPN at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Yankees RHP Masahiro Tanaka is set to confront Indians RHP Carlos Carrasco.
On the 2020 normal season, Tanaka encountered his good and bad times. He went 3-3 with a 3.56 ERA, striking out 44 and strolling eight of every 48 innings more than 10 beginnings.
In the postseason, however, Tanaka has been a demonstrated product. Through eight beginnings crossing 46 innings, Tanaka is 5-3, donning a 1.76 ERA with 37 strikeouts to 11 strolls.
