Yanks Blow Smoke in Guardians Faces. NY 10 Cleveland 2

April 24, 2022 paperbacklou 2022 0

Gerrit Cole was dominant and the Yankee offense pulverized Aaron Civale and the Cleveland Guardians 10-2, sweeping the 3-game series. It was a game some thought the Guardians would seek revenge in — having had Bleacher Creatures throw food at them the day before after a confrontation with left fielder Myles Straw over heckling, and to celebrate the last-strike, come-from-behind Yankee victory.

Instead the Yankees figuratively blew smoke in the Guardians’ collective face. On a very chilly, sunny Sunday afternoon in the Bronx

NY improved to 10-6, tying Toronto, which lost its game, for first place in the AL East.

“It was just our day,” said DJ LeMahieu afterwards. “It was our day. We had really good at bats throughout the day. I think yesterday kind of carried into today — that confidence. And Gerrit pitched great too — so it helps us relax as well.”

1. Revenge .. Not

Yankee Twitter was somewhat divided coming in — many condemning the actions of the Bleacher Creatures the day before, but some putting the blame on Straw for creating the situation by climbing the left field wall to confront the fans after a downed Steven Kwan was being heckled. If Straw does not climb the wall, the fans do not throw the food, was their reasoning.

After the game, Straw called the Yankee fans “Classless. Worst fan base on the planet.”

And so he was booed every time up.

He went 0 for 4 in the Cleveland drubbing.

No revenge there.

2. Cole Dominant

And one of the reasons was Gerrit Cole, who was dominant. Coming in, he had been roughed up in all 3 starts this year. The day before the start, he said he got the best advice from his young daughter, who told him to “just relax.”

And did he.

Cole was DEALING from the get go. He pitched shutout ball into the 7th inning — finishing with 6.2 innings, 4 hits, 0 runs, and 9 K’s. He pitched with cold-blooded confidence, walking off mound with nonchalant authority after striking guys out.

“He was attacking hitters; it looked like he was hitting his spots; he looked like himself,” summed up LeMahieu.

Cole said his cutter was working well. “I think we threw a lot of good (cutters) and a lot of good ones for strikes,” said Cole afterwards.

Cole attributed the success to “A bit better self talk out there. Just a little more aware of the situations, and a lot of runs.”

3. Yankee Offense Stars

John Sterling commented on the radio it would be difficult for Suzyn Waldman to pick a Star of the Game for a post-game interview. She agreed.

The Yanks jumped on top with 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st on an Anthony Rizzo home run to right.

They chipped on a 3rd run in the 2nd on a DJ LeMahieu double that drove in Isiah Kiner-Falefa who had singled.

They tacked on a run in the 3rd when, with bases loaded and nobody out, Aaron Hicks popped one up behind 2nd base, and the Indian defense accidentally let it drop for a hit. Gleyber Torres had to stay near 1st so was thrown out at 2nd but the run scored to Civale’s clear disappointment. Kiner-Falefa hit a sac fly for a 6-0 lead.

The Yanks weren’t done. DJ LeMahieu hit a 2-run homer off Kirk McCarty in the 6th, plating Jose Trevino who had walked and the blowout was on — NY 8 Cleveland 0.

Tim Locastro hit a 2-run homer in the 7th off McCarty for a 10-0 lead.

With 2 outs in the 9th, Cleveland finally got some runs. They came off Ron Marinaccio — Amed Rosario walked, Bobby Bradley singled, and Andres Gimenez tripled for a 10-2 game before Marinaccio got the final out for the old ballgame.

4. Player of the Game

Suzyn Waldman interviewed Anthony Rizzo as the Player of the Game. But it could have been several guys — Cole, LeMahieu (3 for 4 with the HR), or even Gleyber Torres (2 for 3 with a walk).

Even Joey Gallo went 1-4 with a double and RBI.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401354474

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*