Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge anesthetized Cleveland early with a pair of home runs and the New York Yankees beat the Guardians 5-1 yesterday in Game 5 of the American League Division Series to meet again with the Houston Astros for the center of the circuit.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone won his bet by turning to Nestor Cortes as a starter on three days’ rest in place of Jameson Taillon, a hasty change of plans when Monday’s rainy night caused a postponement.
“The Nestor thing is the stuff of legend,” Boone said. “I knew that he was physically in good condition. If we had to play last night (for Monday), he was surely going to have an important role for us”.
By contrast, Cleveland manager Terry Francona did not deviate from the original script by keeping Aaron Civale as the starter instead of ace Shane Bieber.
Civale came out of control and the young Guardians never recovered after Stanton hit a three-run homer on just 21 pitches. Civale went to the showers immediately after drawing only one aut.
Judge increased the Yankees lead with a solo shot in the second.
Cortés dominated by throwing three-hit ball in five innings, crediting himself with the win.
Benefiting from an extra day of rest, Jonathan Loáisiga, Clay Holmes and Wandy Peralta completed the rest of a task of five hits.
The more than 48,000 fans at Yankee Stadium cheered big when Myles Straw grounded out for the final aut. Second baseman Gleyber Torres stepped to the bag to call it the end and then mimicked rocking a baby. It was a mockery of Josh Naylor, the Guardians slugger who made the gesture as he walked the bases after homering off Gerrit Cole in Game 4.
“It was disrespectful,” Torres said of Naylor. “Not just for Cole, but for the entire team. We get even.”
New York overturned a 1-2 deficit in the best-of-five series. After the collapse of their bullpen on Saturday night in Cleveland, the Mulos took the next two games and will now face the Astros in a duel of titans.
“We have plans. Now it’s a tremendous series from tomorrow (today), “said Judge.
Taillon will start tonight in Game 1 of the championship series in Houston. The opposite of him will be Justin Verlander, favorite for the Cy Young. The fight for the AL title will have the two best clubs in the league in the regular season, the Astros with their 106 wins against the Bombers, with 99. Quite a contrast with the clash of the National between San Diego and Philadelphia , both wildcards. “The challenge is that we are going against a great team. As far as it’s immediate, it’s okay,” Boone added. “This is baseball. We do it all the time. We will arrive with a good dose of confidence. We know you will be rested and ready. We are up for the challenge.”
Two of the best home runs in the American League, face to face in the league final
The clash of giants between the Yankees and Astros will feature two of the best home runs in the American League, Aaron Judge and Yordan Álvarez.
Judge set the Young Circuit record by hitting 62 4-pointers in the regular season. Álvarez was quite far from the “Judge” with 37 homers, the most of his career, which ranked third in the AL.
But the two are tied this postseason with two home runs apiece.
The first duel New York-Houston will be tonight, starting at 6:37 p.m. (TV: ESPN). Earlier, at 3:35 p.m. (Fox Sports), the second game of the National Finals between the Phillies and the Padres will be played in San Diego. Philadelphia struck first last night, 2-0, on home runs by Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, as well as great pitching by Zack Wheeler.
Judge hit the fourth drive of his career in do-or-die games against the Guardians yesterday, a new major league record. In fact, his Yankees teammate, Giancarlo Stanton, had joined “The Judge,” Yogi Berra, Didi Gregorius, Moose Skowron, and Troy O’Leary (all Yankees except Red Sox O’Leary) in the same first inning of Tuesday’s clash as the only ones who had given three in those conditions.
Houston, which eliminated the Yankees in 2017 and 2019, won the regular season series, 5-2.
Baseball Digest: Judge is Major League Baseball Player of the Year
Aaron Judge, the historic Yankees slugger who broke Roger Maris’ home run record of 61 this year, was named Major League Player of the Year by “Baseball Digest”, after the vote of a panel made up of journalists, chroniclers , former executives, managers and players.
Mets closer Edwin Diaz won Reliever of the Year, and Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara Pitcher of the Year.
Tricolor relay fails in reverse against Cuba in the World Cup
In the fourth game of the Mexican team in the U-23 World Cup, against Cuba, Yamil Castillo and José Luis Reyes, pitchers from the Dodgers and Padres organizations, respectively, whose return rights belong to the Leones de Yucatán, did not they were able to maintain a scoreless tie in the seventh inning and the West Indians triumphed 2-0.
Castillo served a third with two runs, a couple of walks and a strikeout. Reyes had two auts and allowed one hit and one walk; he glued one.
The long-haired Ángel Camacho went 3-1; Oliver Carrillo, 2-0, with transfer. Camacho led the Tricolor (2-2) in batting percentage with .333. Another wild man, Erubiel Armenta, accepted an uncatchable in his first two appearances (1.2 IP).
They meet again little coffee Martinez and Molina
Yesterday in Venezuela two former Cardinals of San Luis met again, José little coffee Martinez and Yadier Molina. Martínez plays for the Tigres de Aragua; Molina is the new helmsman of Magallanes.
Edition: Ana Ordaz
