Yanks Stay On Top of MLB with 2 of 3 vs. Guardians

When I was a kid, the Yankees never, ever lost to the Cleveland Guardians.

Of course, when I was a kid, the Yankees never, ever beat the Cleveland Guardians, either. They were known as the Cleveland Indians from 1915 to 2021.

The Yankees and the Guardians were supposed to start a 3-game series at Progressive Field in Cleveland on Friday night, but it rained, resulting in a doubleheader on Saturday. Clarke Schmidt started the opener, and allowed 2 runs, 1 of them earned, over 5 innings and change. It was a little worrying that he walked 5 batters, along with allowing 3 hits, but he struck out 7. The bullpen kept the "Guards" off the scoreboard the rest of the way. A 2-run home run from Oswaldo Cabrera in the 6th made the difference, and the Yankees won, 3-2.

Cody Poteet, 29 years old and with 19 previous major league appearances to his credit, all with the Miami Marlins, made his Yankee debut as the starting pitcher in the nightcap. He went 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits, and no walks, striking out 4. Anthony Rizzo and Anthony Volpe each had 2 hits, and Juan Soto hit a home run, and the Yankees won, 8-2. That's 12 out of 15 to start the season.

The Sunday game didn't go so well. Nestor Cortés for the Yankees, and allowed 4 runs in 4 innings. Aaron Judge and Jose Trevino hit home runs. The Guardians took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the 8th. A double by Volpe tied the game in the 9th, and it went to extra innings -- meaning, the damn ghost runner came into play.

At first, it helped. In the top of the 10th, Soto was the ghost runner. Judge was intentionally walked to set up a double play. Giancarlo Stanton singled, but Soto couldn't score. Bases loaded, nobody out. The Yankees could have put the game away. Rizzo singled Soto and Judge home. It was 7-5. Gleyber Torres bunted the runners over.

But Alex Verdugo grounded into a double play. To start the bottom of the 10th, Caleb Ferguson was the Yankee reliever. Ferguson had nothing: He allowed a single, and RBI groundout, a double, a game-tying fielder's choice, and a game-losing sacrifice fly. Guardians 8, Yankees 7.

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So, as things stand, the Yankees are 12-4, despite Gerrit Cole, D.J. LeMahieu and Jonathan Loáisiga being unavailable, our catchers batting a combined .157, Torres batting only .203, Judge batting only .207, Verdugo batting only .218, and no would-be closer better than Clay Holmes.

That 12-4 record is the best in Major League Baseball. They lead the American League Eastern Division by 2 1/2 games over the Baltimore Orioles, 3 over the Tampa Bay Rays, 3 1/2 over the Boston Red Sox, and 4 over the Toronto Blue Jays. Given the nature of the early season, when postponements are more common, and teams tend not to have played the same number of games, in the all-important loss column, the Yanks lead the O's by 2, the Rays by 3, and the Sox and Jays by 4 each.

The Yankees' roadtrip continues tonight, in Toronto. Luis Gil starts for the Yankees, against Chris Bassitt.