Oct 18, 2022; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) celebrates after their win against the Cleveland Guardians in game five of the ALDS for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
MLB: Cleveland Guardians at New York Yankees
Pandemonium in The Bronx last night, as the Yankees clinched their spot in this year’s American League Championship Series with a 5-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians in last night’s decisive Game 5.
Nestor Cortes gave the Yanks everything they asked of him and more on short rest, as he allowed just one earned run on three hits in five strong innings on the hill. Yankees manager Aaron Boone won his gamble by starting Nestor on just three days’ rest over Jameson Taillon, making the late switch after Monday night’s rain out.
“We’ve had talks in that clubhouse that we’re family, no matter how bad things go or how good things can go, we’ve got to stay level-headed,” Cortes said. “We’ve got ourselves, we don’t have anybody else to lean on.”
His counterpart Terry Francona stuck with his original decision of starting Aaron Civale, which came back to bite the veteran manager in the behind. The right-hander lasted just one out into the first, and was pulled after Giancarlo Stanton flexed his postseason muscles.
The three runs coming from the Stanton blast would be more than enough to carry New York to victory, but big Aaron Judge had to put his stamp of approval on the fast start with a blast of his own in the second frame.
“We’re just trying to do our job,” Judge said. “When you’re in the middle of the order, you gotta come up and produce. Stanton and Rizzo have been doing it all series and I tried to step in there and do what I can.”
Jonathan Loaisiga, Clay Holmes and Wandy Peralta were nails out of the ‘pen following Cortes’ exit, and the Yanks had about as easy of a time grabbing the win as one could have in a Game 5.
Now comes the hard part, a rematch of the 2019 ALCS between the Yanks and Houston Astros.
“The challenge is we’re facing a great team,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “As far as the quick turnaround, we’ll be fine. That’s baseball. We do that all the time. We’ll walk in there with some confidence. We know they are a great team and rested and ready.”
The Yankees did not have much time to spray champagne, with the team bus leaving for the airport leaving about an hour-and-a-half after the last out.
“I’m hoping we do some scouting reports on the plane so we can sleep in,” Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole said.
Multiple Yankees they would likely be drinking more beer and champagne if Game 1 was not scheduled for Wednesday evening . Instead, the team ended the festivities quickly, wrapping up in around 20 minutes before packing up their stuff to head to the airport.
“We’ve got other plans,” Judge said. “We’re definitely gonna celebrate and enjoy the moment, but we have a big series coming up starting tomorrow.”
The Yankees now set there sights on Game 1 of the ALCS which begin tonight at 7:37 pm eastern time.
After being passed over for the start in Game 5 against Cleveland, Jameson Taillon will be tasked with going toe-to-toe with Astros ace Justin Verlander in Game 1. A tall task indeed, but one that the big right-hander has spent his whole career preparing for.
