NEW YORK (AP) — Gerrit Cole cruised for most of the night, Harrison Bader and Anthony Rizzo homered and the New York Yankees beat the Guardians 4-1 in their AL Division Series opener.
Not even another Josh Donaldson baserunning blunder could slow the Yankees, who have won six straight postseason games against Cleveland dating to a comeback from a two games to none deficit in the 2017 Division Series.
AL Central champion Cleveland, playing on the 74th anniversary of its last World Series title, struck out nine times against the AL East-winning Yankees, who returned from a five-day layoff. Guardians batters had the fewest strikeouts in the majors during the regular season.