*Photo from Barron's*
Series tied 2-2
With their backs against the wall, the $300 million man delivered. Harrison Bader homered, Anthony Rizzo drove in a run, and the New York Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians with a 4-2 victory on Sunday night in Cleveland.
Having lost two straight games, the Yankees entered game 4 with no margin for error, facing elimination on the road. They needed to win, and that they did. Bader's home run proved to be the difference maker, continuing the string of postseason success for the outfielder.
Yankees starter Gerrit Cole said of Bader that "He's electric, really. Impact player. He’s got moxie, baseball awareness, gets after the ball on defense. A lot of good things to say about that guy. And yeah, he’s having a really good series so far. It’s obviously been fun to watch."
New York got themselves an early lead to start off. With Gleyber Torres on base, Anthony Rizzo singled to center field, scoring Torres to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. One inning later, Josh Donaldson was on base, and Bader brought him home, hitting a two run home run to center field, tripling the Yankees lead to 3-0.
In the 3rd inning, Jose Ramirez got the Guardians on the board. He singled to left field, bringing home Steven Kwan to make the score 3-1. The next inning, Josh Naylor blasted a solo homer to center field, cutting the deficit to 3-2. Giancarlo Stanton hit a sac fly in the 6th inning, scoring Aaron Judge to make the lead 4-2.
Starting the elimination game for the Yankees was Cole, who lived up to the moment. Cole allowed two runs on 6 hits, striking out 8 hitters in 7 innings pitched. Clay Holmes came on for the 8th inning and pitched a scoreless inning, and Wandy Peralta got the save with a shutout 9th inning.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Cole that "He used everything again tonight. I thought he was very much under control. He commanded his emotions well early on if he executed a pitch. He just kept making pitches all night long. He was in command of the moment. It was a huge start for us, and for him."
Getting the start for the Guardians was Cal Quantrill, who got the loss after allowing 3 runs in 5 innings pitched. Eli Morgan allowed one run in the 6th, followed by two scoreless innings from Cody Morris. Zach Plesac came on and pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
Quantrill talked about being one loss from elimination that "We all realize that a lot of people didn't think we could be here. We are here. We don't want it to end yet. We all recognize that there's no promises that you ever get to come back. Leave it all out on the field, that's what we did here today and we're going to do it again tomorrow."
Up next, the decisive game 5 is on Monday night as the series shifts back to Yankee stadium. Both teams will try to advance to the ALCS, with Aaron Civale starting for the Guardians, and Jameson Taillon going for the Yankees.
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