Judge holds court as Yanks handcuff Indians in opener

CLEVELAND－Aaron Judge smashed a tone-setting, two-run homer on Shane Bieber's fourth pitch, Gerrit Cole struck out 13 and the New York Yankees opened the American League playoffs with a resounding 12-3 win over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night.

The Yankees made quite a statement in teeing off on Bieber, who was baseball's best pitcher in the condensed regular season but looked average in his playoff debut.

Judge and the rest of New York's hitters hadn't faced Bieber in 2020, but they were well prepared and took some meaty cuts against the 25-year-old ace, who gave up season highs in runs (seven) and hits (nine) over 4 2/3 innings－his shortest stint since June 9 last season against the Yankees.

"I just felt like the swing decisions were really good," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "That's the key with Bieber. If you're going to have a chance against him, you've got to make quality swing decisions and I felt like the guys did that all night long."

The best-of-three series continues Wednesday night with Carlos Carrasco trying to save Cleveland's season against Masahiro Tanaka.

When Bieber's final pitch clanged loudly off the empty left-field bleachers on a tworun homer by Gleyber Torres in the fifth, the Yankees were up 7-2 and had delivered a boisterous postseason message to the rest of baseball: Don't forget us.

Bieber then handed the ball to acting Indians manager Sandy Alomar Jr. and walked slowly toward Cleveland's dugout, seemingly carrying all of the city's hopes for a long run with him. The Indians have lost seven straight playoff games.

Staked to an early lead on Judge's homer, Cole showed why the Yanks shelled out $324 million for him in the offseason. The right-hander gave up two runs－including Josh Naylor's homer in the fourth－and six hits in seven innings.

Naylor went 4 for 4 and became the first player with three extra-base hits in his postseason debut.

Cole's strikeouts were the second-most by a New York pitcher in postseason history. Roger Clemens fanned 15 in Game 4 of the 2000 AL championship series.

Brett Gardner added a two-run homer in the seventh for the Yankees and Giancarlo Stanton hit a solo shot in the ninth.

Judge's first homer since coming off the injured list on Sept 16－and the first allowed by Bieber at home this season－gave the Yankees a stunning 2-0 lead.

DJ LeMahieu, the AL batting champion, led off with a single before Judge, who missed 29 games with a strained calf, blasted Bieber's first pitch, a middle-of-the-plate fastball, beyond the wall in right-center.

It was just the shot in the arm the Yankees were looking for after going 11-18 on the road this season.

Luke Voit's RBI double in the third made it 3-0. Jose Ramirez pulled the Indians to 3-1 with a two-out RBI double, his 12th straight hit for extra bases. However, Cole struck out Carlos Santana with runners at second and third to end Cleveland's third-inning threat.

Unlike the previous four postseason matchups between the teams since 1997, this one, played amid a global pandemic that threatened to wipe out the entire season, was different in so many ways.

Progressive Field was mostly empty and a cold front dropped the game-time temperature to 16 Celsius.

MLB eased its COVID-19 restrictions and allowed family members of players on both teams attend the game. "Hopefully it is something that provides a little bit of an escape after the game and a little comfort," said Boone.

Associated Press