NEW YORK — Two years ago, Gerrit Cole could not pitch a home playoff game in the 60-game pandemic season and, even if he could have, it would have been in front of an empty stadium.
Last year, Cole was forced to pitch at Fenway Park and struggled in a one-game wild-card playoff because the Yankees were not good enough down the stretch to get home-field advantage.
Nearly three years after signing with the New York Yankees, Cole was under the lights in front of a packed house in the Bronx on Tuesday. And he delivered.
Cole pitched effectively into the seventh inning, Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run homer and the Yankees opened the American League Division Series with a 4-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians.
“It was very special for me,” said Cole, who did not get out of the third inning in last season’s wild-card game at Boston. “It was very special.”
Game 2 is Thursday in New York, where Cleveland’s Shane Bieber will oppose Nestor Cortes.
In his fifth postseason start as a Yankee and first at Yankee Stadium since signing with New York after the 2019 season, Cole allowed one run and four hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out eight and walked one.
Cole (1-0) improved to 3-1 in the postseason as a Yankee and exited to a standing ovation after allowing a single to Myles Straw. Before Tuesday, he had made one start in Cleveland during a wild-card round and two starts against Tampa Bay when the division series was played in San Diego because of the pandemic.
“It’s not the most comfortable time to acknowledge the crowd, but I certainly felt it and appreciated it,” Cole said. “I thought they were in every pitch tonight, and what a wonderful experience to have them behind us.”
Cole’s biggest trouble came in the third as he loaded the bases after allowing a homer to Steven Kwan. Instead of allowing Cleveland to increase its lead, the right-hander got a key throw from third baseman Josh Donaldson to retire Amed Rosario at the plate and then struck out Andres Gimenez with a slider.
“He was in some trouble there and kept making pitches,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “That was good to see him go out in the first Yankee home game in front of fans in the postseason and deliver that kind of performance.”
Cole’s 46 fastballs averaged 97 mph, and he mixed in 26 sliders and 24 curveballs along with five changeups.
“His secondary stuff was really great,” Kwan said. “That’s why he’s pitched for so long. He finds ways to get outs.”
Harrison Bader hit a game-tying solo homer in his postseason debut with his hometown team, as the Yankees won their sixth straight postseason game over Cleveland. Jose Trevino hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly before Rizzo went deep.
Kwan homered for Cleveland, which has scored four runs through its first three postseason games. The Guardians struck out nine times Tuesday and have struck out 38 times in the postseason. Just two batters reached against Cole following the third.
“He can have overwhelming stuff,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. “He starts to speed you up, and then he spins it. It can get tough.”
Cleveland’s Cal Quantrill (0-1) allowed four runs (three earned) and four hits in five-plus innings. He struck out five and walked three in his first loss after winning his final 11 regular-season decisions.
Jonathan Loaisiga ended the seventh by getting Amed Rosario to ground into a double play. Wandy Peralta pitched a scoreless eighth after Loaisiga opened the inning by allowing a single to Jose Ramirez.
Peralta got the first out of the ninth before Clay Holmes recorded the final two outs.
After Cleveland went ahead with one out in the third when Kwan hit a 2-0 fastball into the right-field seats, New York tied the game in the bottom half when Bader blasted a full-count sinker into the left-field stands.
“It was a great moment,” Bader said. “I enjoyed it.”
The Yankees went ahead in the fifth after Josh Donaldson was called out trying to stretch a single to open the inning.
Donaldson hit a fly ball that appeared to bounce off the top of the right-field wall, and he thought it was gone. Instead, he was easily thrown out after rounding first.
After Donaldson’s miscue, Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled and his ball went under right fielder Oscar Gonzalez’s legs, allowing the shortstop to reach third. Kiner-Falefa then gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead when he scored on Trevino’s fly ball.
New York added two more in the sixth to knock out Quantrill. Rizzo blasted a full-count offering into the second deck in right.
–By Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media
