The New York Yankees have taken a 2-0 lead in their ALCS series versus the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday, partly because Aaron Judge finally hit his first homer of the postseason. The hitter's two-run homer also put the finishing touches on a 6-3 win that pushed the Yankees to within two games of the World Series. Meanwhile, Aaron Judge also reacted to the Guardians' bold tactic in Game 2 of walking Juan Soto to load up the bases before his sacrifice fly put the Yankees up 3-0.
“You want to try to get a double-play ball. You want to try to get two outs with one pitch,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said, via a report from the Associated Press.
When he heard this comment, Judge put himself in his opponent's shoes.
“I would probably walk him, too,” he said. During the season, Judge led the MLB with 58 homeruns and 144 RBI.
ALCS Game 2: Yankees def. Guardians, Yankees lead series 2-0
Throughout the postseason, Aaron Judge's bats have gone cold, but that didn't stop the Yankees from advancing to the ALCS, even taking a 2-0 lead over the Guardians after Game 2. Fortunately, Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton have shown up so far, while Luke Weaver entered MLB history in their Game 1 of the ALCS.
Still, the team knows they must play better if they want to win it all this year, and first baseman Anthony Rizzo admitted as much. For his part, Rizzo had a gutsy performance in Game 2, giving the team a pair of hits shortly after recovering from broken fingers.
“We're not satisfied. We know the Guardians are a very, very good ball club, and being up two games means nothing to us,” he said, via a report from Greg Joyce for the New York Post.
Noting that they'll play the next three (if necessary) games at Cleveland, he kept his focus on the next one. Rizzo had missed the ALDS due to his injury.
“We need to go into [Cleveland], it's going to be hostile, and take care of business,” he added.
Meanwhile, Aaron Judge's 14th career home run came off a fastball from Hunter Gaddis in the seventh inning, extending the Yankees' 4-2 lead.
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“It was a big swing to kind of give us that cushion,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of the likely AL MVP's homer. “The bench was pretty pumped when that happened.”
Looking ahead
Both teams get a day off before heading to Cleveland for Game 3. This is also the first time the Yankees hold a 2-0 series lead in the ALCS since 2009 against the Los Angeles Angels.
Moreover, the Yankees also went on to win their 27th World Series championship that year. Can history rhyme for the Yankees, led by Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, or can the Guardians write another chapter?
