Oct. 16 (UPI) — Aaron Judge revitalized his power stroke with his first home run of the playoffs, helping the New York Yankees overcome a rare imperfect outing from pitcher Gerrit Cole to take a 2-0 ALCS lead on the Cleveland Guardians.
Judge jumped on a seventh-inning fastball for his 414-foot, two-run homer to seal the 6-2 triumph in Game 2 of the best-of-seven game series Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.
Judge, who led MLB with 58 blasts during the regular season, hit his last Sept. 26, capping a run of five consecutive regular-season games with a home run.
“We’re excited, but the guys in here are focused,” Judge told reporters. “We’re prepared. We know what needs to be done. We’re on our way to Cleveland.”
Cole, who allowed just one run over seven innings in his last start, retired the first three hitters he faced in Game 2. He allowed 10 base runners over four innings, surrendering six hits and two runs, with four walks.
Second baseman Gleyber Torres scored the first run of the night off a throwing error in the first inning. Left fielder Alex Verdugo plated shortstop Anthony Volpe with a second-inning double for a 2-0 Yankees lead. Judge pushed the lead to 3-0 with a sacrifice fly three at-bats later.
Catcher Josh Naylor hit a sacrifice fly off Cole in the fifth for the Guardians’ first run. The Guardians cut the deficit to one when designated hitter Kyle Manzardo scored off a grounder from right fielder Will Brennan two at-bats later.
Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo plated Volpe with an RBI double in the sixth.
Judge came to the plate as the third Yankees hitter of the next inning for his overdue dinger. The Yankees slugger went down 0-1 after a swing-and-miss on a slider from Hunter Gaddis. The Guardians reliever then missed the strike zone before tossing in a 1-1 95-mph fastball.
Judge hacked at the high-and-outside heat, crushing the offering to center field for the Yankees’ final runs of the night.
Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez hit a 365-foot solo homer in the top of the ninth. Yankees relief pitcher Luke Weaver then retired Naylor and center fielder Lane Thomas to cement the Game 2 victory.
Torres went 3 for 5 with two runs scored for the Yankees. Volpe and Rizzo recorded two hits apiece. Naylor and shortstop Brayan Rocchio collected two hits apiece for the Guardians.
“You gotta keep moving,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We need two more here, but we can’t get ahead of ourselves. It’s one game at a time.”
The Guardians will host the Yankees in Game 3 at 5:08 p.m. EDT Thursday in Cleveland.
