In October, winning ugly can look a lot more beautiful.
For the Yankees, it looks like a 2-0 lead in the ALCS and being two wins away from reaching the World Series.
On yet another night when they wasted early chances to break the game open, the Yankees still did enough to get by before Aaron Judge finally broke out of his slumber with a two-run homer that capped off a 6-3 win over the Guardians on a chilly Tuesday night in The Bronx.
The Yankees seem to be playing the same game almost every night in October, but so far against a pair of AL Central teams, it has proved to be a winning recipe.
In Game 2 of the ALCS, Gerrit Cole did not make it through the fifth inning. The Yankees ran into a pair of outs on the bases in the same inning and went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, making it 8-for-52 this postseason.
And yet, the Guardians committed a pair of errors that led to two Yankees runs. Their starter, Tanner Bibee, lasted only 1 ⅓ innings after Alex Cobb went 2 ⅔ innings in a Game 1 start.
They even intentionally walked Juan Soto to load the bases for Judge in the second inning, though all things considered it worked out as Judge only hit a sacrifice fly.
But Judge ended the night with the last laugh, crushing his first home run of the playoffs with a two-run shot to center field to give the Yankees some breathing room in the seventh inning.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Yankees in the postseason:
- Aaron Judge finally has his postseason moment as Yankees take control of ALCS
- Aaron Judge sends Yankee Stadium into a frenzy with drought-busting homer
- Guardians make disrespectful Aaron Judge decision — and he can’t make them pay
The Yankees’ bullpen took care of the rest, as Clay Holmes, Tim Hill (five outs) and Tommy Kahnle (four outs) combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings to bridge the gap to the ninth. Luke Weaver then gave up his first earned run since Sept. 2, giving up a solo shot to Jose Ramirez, but he still locked down the win.
Coming off a superb performance in the clinching Game 4 of the ALDS, Cole was far less sharp on Tuesday, lasting only 4 1/3 innings while giving up two runs on six hits and four walks while striking out four.
The Yankees had an all-too-familiar bottom of the first inning, but this time it was spared from being a total bust thanks to the Guardians. Gleyber Torres (3-for-4) doubled and Juan Soto singled off Bibee to put the Yankees in business once again.
Judge, who had been kept quiet so far this month despite having frequent chances to deliver with runners on base, came up next and skied a pop up to second base. But shortstop Brayan Rocchio let Judge off the hook, as the ball hit off his glove and spilled into right field, allowing Torres to score from third for the 1-0 lead.
The Yankees came back for more in the second inning as Anthony Volpe and Anthony Rizzo led off with back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners for Alex Verdugo, who slashed a double down the left–field line to make it 2-0.
After Torres popped out, the Guardians went bold and intentionally walked Soto to load the bases for Judge – the second time a team has done that this season; the first resulted in Judge hitting his 300th career home run against the White Sox in August.
But this time around, with the Guardians bringing in tough righty Cade Smith to relieve Bibee, it worked. Judge at least made it a productive out, hitting a sacrifice fly for the 3-0 lead.
But Smith struck out Wells next to make sure the lead stayed there.
The Guardians got to Cole for two runs in the fifth and knocked him out of the game, though Wells’ right elbow kept them from tying it as he blocked Holmes’ sweeper with the bases loaded and two outs.
The Yankees tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, and it could have been more if not for some sloppy baserunning. They had runners on first and second with no outs and Rizzo up when Jazz Chisholm Jr. took too big of a lead off second and was picked off. Rizzo then roped a double to right field that scored Volpe from first, with an assist from a bobble by right fielder Will Brennan, to make it 4-2.
But Rizzo ended the inning when he was caught in no-man’s land between second and third on a pitch in the dirt to Torres, with the Guardians getting him in a rundown for the third out.