Gerrit Cole on Sunday brought the New York Yankees back from the brink to keep them chasing a championship title.
Cole gave New York what they needed, seven solid innings, while Harrison Bader hit a two-run homer as the Yankees forced a decisive fifth game in the American League Division Series with a 4-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 4.
There was no margin for error, no second chances. Cole, who failed in a similar spot in October last year, had the weight of New York’s season, the one Aaron Judge’s home-run swing made historic, on his shoulders.
Photo: AFP
He handled it, like an ace should.
“Preparing for this game, there’s an opportunity to clinch or an opportunity to go home, I didn’t approach the game any different,” Cole said. “I just went out there and did my job.”
New York’s US$324 million man, Cole allowed two runs and struck out eight in beating the Guardians for the second time in six days. He did not dominate, but Cole kept Cleveland’s hitters off base and off balance.
Bader homered for the third time in the best-of-five series, connecting in the second inning off Cal Quantrill, who came in unbeaten in 44 games at Progressive Field.
After blowing Game 3 on Saturday, when the Yankees’ bullpen had its greatest meltdown in the team’s storied post-season history, New York recovered and is headed home for a winner-moves-on game.
New York were to start Game 2 loser Jameson Taillon against Aaron Civale yesterday night at Yankee Stadium. The winner advances to meet Houston in the American League Championship Series (ALCS).
Josh Naylor homered for the Guardians, who are trying to end the MLB’s current longest World Series drought in their first year after a franchise name change. Cleveland have not won it all since 1948.
With a history of post-season heartbreak, Cleveland teams are 1-7 in winner-take-all games.
“You know if you would have told me back in March, we just signed up to play Game 5 in New York to go to the ALCS, I would have jogged to New York,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “I’m excited.”
Cleveland were not supposed to be here, but they won the American League Central division, swept the Tampa Bay Rays in the wild-card round and had the Yankees on the cusp of elimination.
All Cleveland’s kids have to do now is beat the Yankees in baseball’s most hostile environment.
“It’s going to be exciting,” Civale said. “Everyone that was there saw what it was like. It’s going to be crazy, it’s going to be a lot of screaming and a lot of fans. But at the end of the day it’s noise.”
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
‘REMARKABLE’: Gaelic football is a traditional Irish sport that blends the skills of soccer and rugby, and hurling is an ancient sport played with a wooden stick and ‘sliotar’ The Taiwan Celts Gaelic Football Club marked a milestone achievement at the Asian Gaelic Games in Bangkok on Nov. 23 and 24, with two sides advancing to the knockout stages and competing at hurling for the first time. The event brought together 68 teams from 16 clubs across Asia, with more than 800 players in men’s and women’s tournaments. Gaelic football is a traditional Irish team sport that blends the skills of soccer, rugby union and basketball. Hurling is an ancient Irish sport played with a wooden stick, called a hurley, and a small ball, or sliotar. The Taiwan Celts’ women’s team reached
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
RSS