By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer
NEW YORK — Aaron Judge hit a two-run drive into Monument Park for his first home run of this postseason, and the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Guardians, 6-3, on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the American League Championship Series.
Judge, who entered with just one RBI in the playoffs, hit a sacrifice fly in a two-run second that put the Yankees ahead 3-0. With New York leading 4-2 lead in the seventh, the likely AL MVP drove a fastball at the letters from Hunter Gaddis 414 feet to center for his 14th career postseason home run.
In a matchup of Orange County-bred aces who had off nights, Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee (Cal State Fullerton, Mission Viejo High) got just just four outs in the shortest start of his professional career and an erratic Gerrit Cole (UCLA, Orange Lutheran High) was chased after four walks in 4⅓ innings.
Winner Clay Holmes, Tim Hill and Tommy Kahnle combined for 3⅔ scoreless innings for the Yankees. José Ramírez hit a ninth-inning home run off Luke Weaver, just the second earned run New York’s bullpen has allowed over 23⅓ innings in six postseason games.
After a day off, Game 3 is Thursday in Cleveland. The Yankees lead the ALCS 2-0 for the first time since 2009 against the Angels.
New York’s Gleyber Torres reached base leading off for the fifth time in the playoffs and had three hits. Anthony Rizzo had two hits and is 3 for 7 in two games since returning from a pair of fractured fingers that caused him to miss the AL Division Series.
Rookie shortstop Brayan Rocchio and right fielder Will Brennan committed run-scoring errors for the Guardians.
Rocchio dropped Judge’s first-inning popup, allowing Torres to score. After Cleveland closed to 3-2, Brennan bobbled the ball when he tried for a barehand pickup of Rizzo’s sixth-inning double that caromed off the low wall down the right-field line. Anthony Volpe, who had been on first, sprinted home.
Steven Kwan extended his Cleveland-record postseason hitting streak to 12 games.
Alex Verdugo had a opposite-field RBI double in the two-run second that glanced off a shoulder of left field umpire Vic Carapazza and went down the line.
Cleveland closed to 3-2 in the fifth when Josh Naylor hit a sacrifice fly and, after Holmes relieved with the bases loaded, Will Brennan grounded into a run-scoring force out.
Cleveland went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners.
Cole escaped two-on, one-out trouble in the third and then a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fourth when pinch-hitter David Fry fouled out and Rocchio took a knuckle curve at the top of the strike zone for a called third strike in a nine-pitch at-bat.
Holmes struck out Austin Hedges on low sinker to leave the bases loaded in the fifth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Guardians right-hander Alex Cobb was removed from the roster with a lower back strain sustained in the opener and replaced by right-hander Ben Lively.
UP NEXT
Yankees right-hander Clarke Schmidt starts Game 3 on Thursday in Cleveland. He allowed two runs and four hits over 4⅔ innings in ALDS Game 3, wasting a 2-0 lead before New York won, 3-2. He faced the Guardians once this year, pitching five scoreless innings before allowing a pair of runs – one unearned – in the sixth inning of a 3-2 victory.
More to come on this story.