The New York Yankees kicked off the ALCS with a commanding 5-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Yankee Stadium, fueled by standout performances from sluggers Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton. Stanton launched his 13th career postseason homer, while Soto connected on his first postseason blast as a Yankee, sending the sellout crowd—including celebrity attendees Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce—into a frenzy.
The Yankees capitalized on Cleveland’s mistakes, as Guardians pitchers threw five wild pitches and walked nine batters. Cleveland’s Jose Cantillo, responsible for four of the wild pitches, acknowledged his rough night, saying, “That performance was obviously the difference in the game, so that’s on me.” Cleveland’s pitching issues set a postseason record, with two wild pitches in one inning resulting in runs.
A major storyline in the Yankees’ postseason run has been closer Luke Weaver, who continued his clutch performances with another multi-inning save, joining Yankees legends Mariano Rivera and Rich Gossage as the only pitchers with three saves of more than three outs in their team’s first five postseason games since saves became an official stat.
With this win, the Yankees improved their historical odds in the series, as teams winning Game 1 of a best-of-seven series have gone on to win the series 66 out of 99 times. But the Yankees know not to take anything for granted; memories of their 2019 ALCS collapse against the Astros still linger. “In our eyes, we haven’t done nothing yet. We’ve got to win three out of six, and we take that as three out of three,” Stanton remarked.
Game 2 will return to Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, as the Yankees aim to build on this momentum in pursuit of their 41st American League pennant. Meanwhile, across town, the Mets evened their series against the Dodgers, adding to New York’s baseball excitement this postseason.
