N.Y. Yankees: Bronx Bombers Rain Destruction at Progressive Field

From the desk of: BLAME CARLOS MAY

AMERICAN LEAGUE

WILD CARD ROUND

GAME ONE

Yankees   12

Indians      3

FINAL

GERRIT COLE JOINS ELITE COMPANY

New York announces their presence with authority.  

With mission in hand they open the bomb bay doors dropping four high kiloton dingers upon Progressive Field.  

Aaron Judge zeroes in right away when he blasts Shane Bieber's fourth pitch of the game over the right/center field wall for a prompt 2-0 lead.  Gleyber Torres also hits a two run home run off Bieber in the fifth.  Reliever Cameron Hill yields yet another two run home run off the bat of Bret Gardner in the seventh and Giancarlo Stanton closes out the Bronx Bombers barrage with a solo home run in the ninth.

The bottom portion of the lineup proves particularly devastating.  Number seven batter Gleyber Torres is a perfect 4 for 4 with a walk, three runs scored and three runs batted in and batting eighth  Brett Gardner goes 3 for 5 with two runs scored and three runs batted in.  The Yankees hit a combined 15 for 41 (.365), with five extra base hits, three walks and ten strikeouts.

American League Cy Young candidate Shane Bieber does not make it through the fifth.  It's easily his worst outing of the season.  Despite seven strikeouts he yields seven runs on nine hits and two walks through 4.2 innings pitched.

Otherwise, this is why Gerrit Cole gets paid the big bucks.  He joins Tom Seaver as the only two pitchers with 13 strikeouts and no walks in a post-season game, according to @MLBStats.  He surrenders just two runs on six hits through 7.0 innings pitched.  He throws 105 pitches with 73 (69%) going for strikes.

Gerrit Cole or not, the Indians can not play catch-up ball against the Yankees.  They go 8 for 35 with eight hits, three for extra bases, one walk and 14 strikeouts.  Left fielder Josh Naylor is the only disruptive bat of the lot, going 4 for 4 with a double, home run and two runs scored.

The Yankees play a clean game in the field after leading the circuit with 48 errors.

Masahiro Tanaka goes in game two.  This is his fifth post-season with the Yankees over which he's nothing but brilliant.  Through eight appearances dating back from 2015 Tanaka owns a 5-3 record with a 2.13 ERA and a stellar 0.90 WHiP.  He has walked just 11 batters and fanned 37 while yielding just 25 hits through 46.0 innings pitched.  In ten regular season starts Tanaka posted a 3-3 record with a 3.56 ERA and 1.17 WHiP.  He has allowed 48 hits in 48.0 innings pitched with eight walks and 44 strikeouts.

Cleveland is counting on 33-year old right-hander Carlos Carrasco to help stave off elimination.  He went 3-4 in twelve starts with a 2.91 ERA and 1.21 WHiP, and struck out a robust 82 batters in 68.0 innings pitched.