Aaron Judge hit his first home run since the start of the series and the New York Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians 6-3 on Tuesday, taking a 2-0 lead in the American Championship Series.
Judge hit a two-run homer to make it 6-2 in the seventh.
He entered the game with only one RBI since the series started.
Judge also hit a sacrifice fly in the second. Five innings later, he sent the ball 414 feet from the plate, to the detriment of Hunter Gaddis.
The visitors’ Tanner Bibee had just four outs, the shortest outing of his career. He allowed three runs and five hits.
Gerrit Cole wasn’t very solid either: he gave up his place after four and a third innings, having allowed two runs, six hits and four walks.
José Ramírez homered in the ninth against Luke Weaver.
In six playoff games the Yankees relievers have allowed only two earned runs, in 23 and a third innings.
The third game will take place Thursday in Cleveland.
The last time the Yankees led 2-0 in the American Championship Series was in 2009, against the Los Angeles Angels.
Gleyber Torres provided three hits for the winners.
Absent in the previous round, Anthony Rizzo had a single and a double, bringing his record to 3 for 7 since his return to play. He recovered from broken fingers.
Cleveland was 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. The club left 11 runners on base.
