In Game 1 on Tuesday night, Gerrit Cole pitched as though he did not expect much run support, outpitching Shane Bieber, who won the Pitching Triple Crown this season. He went 7 innings, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and no walks, with 13 strikeouts,
But he did get the Run support. The Yankees' 1st 5 innings were 20122, or the ZIP Code for Centreville, Virginia. Aaron Judge hit a home run in the 1st inning, Gleyber Torres hit one in the 5th, Brett Gardner in 7th and Giancarlo Stanton in the 9th.
There were #YankeesTwitter people complaining that, once again, Stanton had hit a "garbage time" home run, just like Alex Rodriguez in most seasons except 2009. He may have noticed, which I'll get to in a moment.
The lead got so big, nobody minded that Aaron Boone brought Luis Cessa in to pitch the 8th and the 9th, to save the bullpen in case Game 2 got out of hand. And he only allowed 1 run. Yankees 12, Indians 3.
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In Game 2 on Wednesday night, Masahiro Tanaka pitched like he expected to get all the run support. He got plenty, but he didn't get the job done. He allowed 6 runs in just 4 innings, as the game turned into a slugfest.
He allowed 4 runs in the 1st inning. But, as they would say in English soccer, "Four-nil, and you fucked it up!" Stanton took Carlos Carrasco deep in the 2nd to put the Yankees on the board -- for the moment, the most important home run of his career. Gio Urshela hit a grand slam in the 4th, to give the Yankees a 5-4 lead. Gary Sanchez continued his redemption tour, hitting a homer in the 5th, to make it 6-4 Yankees.
But no one thought the game was in the bag. The Indians tied it in the bottom of the 5th. The Yankees scored 2 in the top of the 6th, and the Indians tied it of Zack Britton in the top of the 7th. Jonathan Loaisiga allowed them to take a 9-8 lead in the bottom of the 8th.
Yankee Fans were resigning themselves to a win-or-go-home Game 3, and not looking forward to it. Then came the top of the 9th. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Stanton, of all players, led off the inning by drawing a walk off Brad Hand. Urshela singled. Torres beat out a weak grounder to load the bases with nobody out. The Yankees were in business.
But Gardner struck out. All eyes were on the much-maligned Sanchez again. He flew to center field for the 2nd out, but it was enough to get Stanton home with the tying run. Then came DJ LeMahieu. Cometh LeMoment, cometh LeMan: Base hit to center, scoring Urshela.
The Yankees couldn't get another run. So we asked Aroldis Chapman to get 3 outs without allowing a run, and more than one of us, on Twitter, use the words, "no drama." And, "please." There were also a few gods (baseball and otherwise) and saints invoked.
Sure enough, Chapman struck Franmil Reyes out, then got Jordan Luplow to ground to short. One out to go. Oscar Mercado was the batter. Chapman got him to swing and miss for strike 3 to end it -- or so we thought. But Sanchez pulled a Mickey Owen, and dropped the 3rd strike, and the Indians had the tying run on 1st and the winning run at the plate.
We could all see the disaster coming. Sanchez had gone from zero to hero and back again, and if Chapman had one of his occasional meltdowns, he wouldn't get blamed, Sanchez would.
I remembered that "Aroldis" is an anagram for "Rolaids." Remember the commercials from the 1970s and '80s? "I spell 'relief''R-O-L-A-I-D-S.'" Except Chapman upsets stomaches nearly as often as he settles them.
The batter was Austin Hedges. Chapman struck him out swinging. Ballgame over. American League Wild Card Series over. Yankees win. Theeeeeeee Yankees win! Yankees 10, Indians 9.
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So, here's how things stand, going into Friday night, October 2. By the way, Happy Bucky Dent Day!
* The Tampa Bay Rays swept the Toronto Blue Jays in 2 straight. So the Yankees will play the Rays, with the Rays having the higher seed, and thus batting 2nd as the "home team," even though the best-3-out-of-5 AL Division Series will take place on neutral ground, at Petco Park in San Diego, home of the Padres.
* The Minnesota Twins made it 18 straight postseason losses, as the Houston Astros apparently did not need to cheat this time, sweeping them 2 straight.
* In the only ALWCS to need the full 3 games, the Oakland Athletics beat the Chicago White Sox. They move on, as the higher seed and "home team," to face the Astros, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* In the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers swept the Milwaukee Brewers in 2 straight.
* They will be the "home team," at the new Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, against the winner of the series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Diego Padres, which requires a Game 3.
* The Miami Marlins, owned by Yankee Legend Derek Jeter and managed by Yankee "Legend" Don Mattingly, swept the Chicago Cubs in 2 straight.
* And the Atlanta Braves swept the Cincinnati Reds in 2 straight. The Braves will be the "home team" against the Marlins, at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
I wouldn't like it if the Yankees lost to the A's. But I want to beat first the Rays, and then the Astros, so much. If the A's deny us our revenge for this season, fine, anybody beating the Astros is okay with me.
As for whether we make it to the World Series: The Yankees lost their last Series matchups with the Cardinals in 1964, the Dodgers in 1981, and the Marlins in 2003; but won their last matchups with the Padres in 1998 and the Braves in 1999. So 3 out of the 5 remaining NL teams give us a shot at revenge.
The game times and pitching matchups for the ALDS have not yet been set. Regardless... Come on you Bombers!