The New York Yankees will face off against the Cleveland Indians for Game 2 of their Wild Card series on Wednesday night. The Yankees took the first game 12-3 and will look to finish the series early in this one.
Game 1 Recap
New York pounded Cleveland’s ace, Shane Bieber, right from the start, jumping out to a 2-0 lead after just four pitches thanks to Aaron Judge’s two-run homer and never looking back.
“The first inning didn’t go as planned,” Bieber said. “I wish I would have been with my off-speed stuff in the zone, and challenged those guys a little more. I forced myself into some bad situations and some bad counts on top of not having my best stuff and making mistakes.”
His outing ended in the fifth inning when Gleyber Torres launched a two-run home run to give the Yankees a 7-2 lead. That pretty much sealed the game.
Yankees Count on Tanaka
The Yankees will send Masahiro Tanaka to the mound for Game 2. The Yankees have had a clear ace this year with Gerrit Cole, but after that, there hasn’t been much dominance. Tanaka is 2-2 against the Indians in his career.
They will rely on their bats, but if they hit like they did in Game 1, that shouldn’t be an issue. Judge leads this team in the batter’s box, with plenty of postseason success.
In his 28 career playoff games, he has hit nine home runs and has 19 RBI.
“There’s no doubt that the edge that he has and plays with, when he’s rolling, it rubs off from an energy standpoint on our team,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone.
Indians Must Win
With this three-game format in the Wild Card round, the Indians are already facing a must-win game. Cleveland will send Carlos Carrasco to the mound to start in Game 2.
Carrasco has pitched much better of late, ending the season with success. He has only allowed seven runs in his past six starts.
However, New York has had some previous success against him. He has a 5-5 record against the Yankees in 12 career starts. If Cleveland wants to win the series, they have to slow down the scoring from the Bronx Bombers.
There aren’t many, if any, teams in the league that can score alongside them. There has to be a strong pitching performance to limit their runs.
Prediction
Much of baseball is all about momentum, and Tuesday night said a lot. Bieber is one of the best pitchers in the AL, and he was pounded by the Yankees on Tuesday.
I believe more of the same will happen against Carrasco in Game 2. The first game was close to a pick ’em, but this one has the Yankees as slight favorites.
New York has odds of -130, and Cleveland sits at +110. I’m taking the Yankees to end this series early and send the Indians home for the season.
The New York Yankees move on after another impressive offensive performance in Game 2.