The New York Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians, 5-2, to take Game 1 of the best-of-seven American League Championship Series on Monday night at Yankee Stadium. Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton both hit solo home runs, the Yankees got a sharp performance from starter Carlos Rodón, and they benefitted from some wild pitches. The Yankees won their first ALCS game since 2019 and are up 1-0 in the best-of-seven series.
And they did it all with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce in attendance.
Here are some takeaways form ALCS Game 1.
Juan Soto owns Alex Cobb
Heading into Game 1, Juan Soto had gone 7 for 11 with a double and two home runs in his career against Guardians starter Alex Cobb. He singled up the middle in the first inning. And then next time, he went deep to get the scoring started.
Man, 9 for 13 with three bombs against one pitcher is total ownership. File this away if Cobb gets another start this series. It's always a tough proposition to pitch around -- or even intentionally walk -- Soto with Aaron Judge on deck, but it's worth a serious discussion.
Yankees gifted help by wild reliever
The Yankees didn't have issues getting baserunners in this one. Coming through with hits to drive home the runners was another issue. They left two men on base in each the first and second innings. As seen above, the Soto homer was solo to lead off the third. Later in the third, the Guardians gave the Yankees some runs. Three walks were issued by Cobb to load the bases for Anthony Rizzo. A wild pitch by left-handed reliever Joey Cantillo scored one run. Rizzo walked to load the bases again. And another Cantillo wild pitch happened.
Take note of Guardians' catcher Bo Naylor there. With the bases loaded, he needs to sell out to block those pitches instead of having them get by (here's the one while Rizzo was up, scoring Judge).
Most defensive metrics show Naylor as an above-average defensive catcher. Baseball savant even judges blocking ability and Naylor scores very well. He didn't in the third inning of Game 1. Even if the pitches being ruled wild pitches instead of passed balls gives most of the blame to Cantillo, Naylor's got to keep those balls in front of him in that situation.
Speaking of Cantillo, he would end up throwing four wild pitches in his 1/3 of an inning. That's the second-most wild pitches ever in a playoff game, trailing Rick Ankiel (five in 2000 NLDS Game 1).
Rodón kept missing bats
Yankees starter Carlos Rodón has been very inconsistent and got knocked around by the Royals in Game 2 of the ALDS, so there were concerns heading into the game. He went out and threw very well. In his six innings of work, Rodón allowed only one run on three hits and that one run was a solo homer in the sixth. He didn't walk anyone and he struck out nine. He got 25 swings and misses and, per Sarah Langs, that's the most by a Yankees pitcher in the playoffs since pitch tracking started in 2008.
The Guardians are one of the toughest teams to strike out in all of baseball, too.
Not only did Rodón do a great job in keeping down the Guardians' offense, but getting through six innings meant the Yankees' bullpen didn't have to work overly hard in this one. Given that there's a day off after Game 2 and they had three days of rest before Game 1, manager Aaron Boone has a totally full arsenal with his bullpen for Game 2. The days off were the biggest part of the equation, but Rodón deserves his due as well.
Playoff Giancarlo is here
While there's been much ado about Aaron Judge's playoff struggles, Giancarlo Stanton has very good playoff history. He went 6 for 16 (.375) with two doubles, a home run and four RBI in four games last round. The home run was a go-ahead shot in the eighth inning of Game 3 to turn the series toward the Yankees' favor. The home run here in Game 1 of the ALCS was simply insurance, but it was so booming and majestic, it deserves a peek.
In addition to his 429 career regular-season homers (he's the active leader!), Stanton now has 13 playoff home runs in 115 at-bats.
Weaver slams the door
The Guardians' bullpen has gotten all the credit between the two units heading into this series and rightfully so. It's the best in baseball. It was in the regular season by a pretty sizable margin.
But the Yankees' bullpen is in great shape right now and the anchor is now Luke Weaver. He was dominant down the stretch in the regular season and worked four scoreless innings, collecting saves in all three Yankees wins, in the ALDS.
Weaver came into the game in that messy situation in the eighth -- one that was set up by an obstruction call. He struck out Will Brennan and then got a weak grounder off the bat of superstar José Ramírez.
In the ninth, Weaver walked the leadoff batter before striking out the side.
What's next?
Rinse and repeat. Game 2 of this series happens again in Yankee Stadium at the same time (7:38 p.m. ET) on Tuesday.
Tanner Bibee is the Guardians' No. 1 starter and he'll have the honors in Game 2. He'll face off against 2023 AL Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole.
In LCS history, when the home team wins Game 1, it has gone 28-13 in winning the series. The Guardians have an uphill battle, yes, but if they lose Game 2, it becomes a lot steeper. Road teams started the series down 0-2 have only gone 4-18 in those series.
