Yanks take 'robot' cue from Rodon Cole as nab Game 1

NEW YORK – There was a debate among the Yankees hierarchy about handing the ball to Carlos Rodon for Monday's Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, taking a break from how quickly his first playoff start in pinstripes unfolded in the previous round.

The left-hander promised that he would manage his power better this time around and he delivered in a big way. Rodon shut down the cold postseason atmosphere, striking out nine over six strong innings as the Yankees beat the Guardians 5-2 on Monday evening at Yankee Stadium.

Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton launched homers as the Yankees claimed the opener. In seven postseason series, teams that have won Game 1 have clinched the series 123 of 191 times (64%). In series under the current 2-3-2 format, the team that wins Game 1 at home wins the series 66 out of 99 times (67%).

“He's just great. You see a guy like that, it's one of our guys. I think we have five aces,” Soto said of Rodon on the field postgame. He bowled well today. It was an incredible job by him. He kept the boys balanced. We couldn't ask for more.”

After not completing four innings in his ALDS Game 2 start against the Royals, Rodon said he studied how Gerrit Cole held his composure in ALDS Game 4, commenting that the right-hander looked “like a robot” until his final inning. was . This provided a template that Radon aimed to emulate.

Rodon's 25 swings and misses in a postseason game are the fourth-most since pitch tracking began in 2008.

Soto hit his first homer this postseason, a third-inning shot off Alex Cobb, who was charged with three runs and five hits in 2 2/3 innings. Joey Cantillo fired four wild pitches, two of which came in the third inning, and allowed a run, trotting home Aaron Judge and Stanton.

“I was just stuck on that pitch,” Soto said of his homer. “He showed me the pitch three times, so I thought he wanted to get that pitch and land it and I was ready for it. I was just prepared and tried to communicate hard, and thankfully it went the right way.”

Judge picked up a fourth-inning sacrifice fly before Stanton sent his second homer this postseason to the visitors' bullpen, off Eric Sabrowski in the seventh.