On Sunday night, the New York Yankees won Game 4 of the ALDS on the road against the Cleveland Guardians, tying the series 2-2 and making a decisive run in a best-of-five-inning series. Gerrit Cole and Harrison Budd helped New York save the season with a 4-2 victory. The Yankees took an early lead and never trailed, but there was some drama in the final inning.
Let’s see how this all happens.
Yankees strike early, Bud goes deep again
The Yankees were on the board even before the Guards had a chance to hit the ball. Gleyber Torres led with a single, stole second base, and then scored on an Anthony Rizzo single.
They didn’t wait long to add more, as center fielder Harrison Budd hit a two-pointer in the second to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead. Here is the explosion:
Undoubtedly, it was 429 feet and the third homer in the Bud series. He hit zero in 14 regular-season games for the Yankees and five of 72 for the Cardinals before the injury and trade. It’s only the third time in Yankees history that a center fielder has hit three home runs in the entire playoffs, joining Mickey Mantle and Bernie Williams, According to ESPN Stats and Information.
cole looks like an ace
That’s why they paid him big bucks, right? The Yankees face a knockout game and need to get out of their ace after a blowout loss in Game 3. Cole went out and played seven innings. The Guardians swept the plate with a José Ramírez fumble in the third inning, which didn’t get hit.
Kerr gave up a booming game: a Josh Naylor homer in the fourth inning. Naylor got excited around the bases when he called Cole his “son.”
Hey, no matter how you go, right? It was Kerr’s eighth straight postseason home run allowed, tying Yu Darvish’s MLB record (by Katie Sharp).
After that, Cole locked it up. His response was to retire the next 10 batsmen and 12 of the final 13 batsmen.
This line: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, BB, 8 K. He threw 110 pitches, so anyone who wants him out of the bullpen in Game 5 can keep dreaming. Regardless, it was a big outing for the Yankees when they needed it most. In fact, given the circumstances, it’s arguably the biggest appearance of Kerr’s career with the Yankees.
Also, for fans of starting pitchers deep into the game (I raised my hand!), Kerr’s seven-pointer here was his eighth starter so far this postseason to have played at least seven innings. There were only four such starts in the entire playoffs last year (by Sarah Lance). It says here that this is a positive trend for the game as a whole.
Yankees give Guards a taste of their medicine
The way the guards threw the ball into the game to make things happen in the third game really got their approval. They found a bunch of holes and sometimes the ball wasn’t hit very hard. Their first game in Game 4 was also similar.
This time, at the top of the sixth inning, the Yankees collected some insurance in a similar fashion. Aaron Judge arrived for a ground-ball infield single before Anthony Rizzo doubled softly on the left field line. Giancarlo Stanton then took the judge home with a sacrificial fly.
It’s more efficient to use only club home runs, but it works either way. All run counts are the same.
Sherlock Holmes, Peralta closes the door
With the final-inning rally we’ve seen from the Guardians all season, not to mention the Yankees’ bullpen woes later in the year, the two-point lead is razor-thin going into the eighth. did much About Clay Holmes not pitching in Game 3. He got the eighth inning in this one. He put Steven Kwan out to tie the game, but Holmes struck out Amed Rosario and then Ramírez to end the threat.
In Game 9, the Yankees won with Vendee Peralta. He has pitched in every game in this series, making Game 4 his third straight day on the mountain. He also scored 27 goals in the third game. in spite of. He ended the game with two weak grounders and a strikeout.
Peralta threw just seven pitches in this one, but Game 5 will be his fourth straight. He could be damaged. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he won’t be using Holmes on back-to-back days, so he might miss Game 5, or at least not as sharp as Game 4.
Everyone else can use it.
Guardians’ best rescuers are fresh
Cody Morris gave Zach Plesac (one scoreless) and Eli Morgan (one run allowed in two scoreless innings) ) nods, the Guardians bullpen is in great shape in Game 5.
- Sam Hentges didn’t play in Game 4 after pitching 31 times in Game 3.
- Trevor Stephan has not pitched since Game 2.
- Main setter James Kalinchuk has not pitched since Game 2, meaning all three setters are fresh and ready for extended duty in Game 5.
- Emanuel Clarke is the best left wing player in the playoffs. He also hasn’t pitched since Game 2. He pitched 2 1/3 innings in that game, a good example of how well he got far more than three outs.
Expect Terry Francona to lean heavily on these four pitchers in his upcoming fifth game of the season.
next
We’ll do it again on Monday, only the series will return to Yankee Stadium at 7:07pm ET. There is only one wild-card series in New York, and this series represents the only divisional series. Both teams either win or go home.
So the pitching situation is basically “everyone on deck”. The starters will be Aaron Civalle of the Guardians and Jameson Tyrone of the Yankees.
Civale (5-6, 4.92) has not played since October. 5, but he did end the season well (his last four starts with a 3.27 ERA). Taillon (14-5, 3.91) was the losing pitcher in Game 2 as he coughed for two on three hits in the 10th inning without a record out.
Still, unless they’re completely dominant, it’s unlikely that either team plans to go very deep with starters — especially keepers with fresher late players.