Yankees Sweep Cleveland With Great Pitching and Clutch Hitting
The Yankees faced off against the Cleveland Guardians in a three game set at Yankee Stadium. Jameson Taillon got the start for the Yankees in game one. The Yanks got on the board first with a two run home run off the bat of Aaron Judge in the third. In the fourth the Guardians got on the board with a solo home run from Franmil Reyes. The Yankees added to their lead in the fourth when Isiah Kiner - Falefa ripped an RBI single to make it 3-1. Aaron Judge made it a 4-1 game in the fifth inning when he hit his second homer of the night. Taillon gave the Yankees a good outing. Taillon threw five innings while only allowing one run with five strikeouts. Mike King came in after Taillon and was absolutely electric. King threw three shutout innings with eight strikeouts. Aroldis Chapman came on in the ninth and picked up the save. The Yankees got a nice 4-1 victory in game one of the three game series against Cleveland.
Nestor Cortes got the ball for the Yankees in game two of the three game series against the Guardians. Cortes was brilliant yet again in this one, but the Yankees struggled to push runs across. In a 0-0 game in the fifth inning, Josh Nalor got Cortes for a two run home run to give Cleveland a 2-0. The Yankees answered quickly when they tied the game in the bottom of the fifth from an Isiah Kiner-Falefa RBI single and a Kyle Higashioka sac fly. Nesor would throw 6.1 fantastic innings in this one. He racked up eight strikeouts while only allowing one hit which happened to be the two run homer. This gritty start from Cortes continues his streak of excellence. Aaron Boone said it perfectly; “The legend of Nestor continues”.
Clay Holmes came in and threw 0.2 scoreless innings. In the bottom of the seventh Josh Donaldson crushed a go ahead home run to take a 3-2 lead for the Yanks. Chad Green came on next and struggled. Green gave back the lead to the Guardians when Austin Hedges hit a two run home run to give the Guardians a 4-3 lead. Miguel Castro pitched the ninth and kept it a one run game. Josh Donaldson put together a great at bat to get the tying runner on with a leadoff walk in the bottom of the ninth. Tim Locastro pinch ran for him. Locastro stole second but Hicks and Gallo both got out. IKF came up to the plate with the tying runner on second and two outs. On a two strike pitch IKF drove the ball off the left field wall for a game tying double. Gleyber Torres then pinch hit for Higgy, and Torres ripped the ball to right center for a walk off single. This electrifying 5-4 comeback win for the Yankees clinched the series victory.
Gerrit Cole toed the slab in game three of the three game series against Cleveland as the Yankees looked to complete the sweep. Cole looked to turn his season around after his rough first three starts of the season. Cole did exactly that in this one. Cole turned in an incredible performance. He tossed 6.2 shutout innings with nine strikeouts. Thankfully, the Yankees gave Cole plenty of run support. In the first Anthony Rizzo clubbed a two run home run. In the second DJ Lemahieu smoked an RBI double. In the third Aaron Hicks scored Rizzo on an RBI fielder’s choice. Gallo then ripped an RBI double, and Kiner - Falefa had a sac fly. The Yankees led 6-0 after three innings. In the sixth Lemahieu made it 8-0 with a two run homer. After Cole’s 6.2 innings, Wandy Peralta threw 1.1 scoreless innings. In the bottom of the eighth Tim Locastro smoked a two run homer for his first of the season to make it 10-0. Ron Marinaccio came on to pitch the ninth. He gave up a two run triple to Andres Gimenez, but the Yankees did win the game by a score of 10-2. The Yankees finally complete the sweep in a very satisfying blowout win. The Yankees’ great pitching and clutch hitting led them to this sweep over the Cleveland Guardians.
By : Riley Briggs