In October, winning ugly can look a lot nicer.

For the Yankees, it looks like a 2-0 lead in the ALCS and two wins away from reaching the World Series.

On another night when they squandered early opportunities to break the game open, the Yankees still did enough to get by before Aaron Judge finally broke out of his slumber with a two-run homer that capped off a 6-3 victory over the Guardians . a chilly Tuesday evening in The Bronx.

It seems like the Yankees are playing the same game almost every night in October, but so far against a pair of AL Central teams it has proven to be a winning recipe.

In Game 2 of the ALCS, Gerrit Cole couldn’t get through the fifth inning. The Yankees got a pair of outs on base in the same inning and went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, making it 8-for-52 this postseason.

And yet the Guardians made a few mistakes that led to two Yankees runs. Their starter, Tanner Bibee, lasted just 1 ⅓ innings after Alex Cobb went 2 ⅔ innings in a Game 1 start.

They even walked Juan Soto intentionally to load the bases for Judge in the second inning, although all things considered it worked, as Judge hit only a sacrifice fly.

But Judge ended the night with the last laugh, crushing his first home run of the playoffs with a two-run shot to center field to give the Yankees some breathing room in the seventh inning.

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The Yankees bullpen took care of the rest, as Clay Holmes, Tim Hill (five out) and Tommy Kahnle (four out) combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings to bridge the gap to the ninth. Luke Weaver then gave up his first earned point since September 2, giving up a solo shot to Jose Ramirez, but still posted the victory.

After an excellent performance in the decisive Game 4 of the ALDS, Cole was much less sharp on Tuesday. He lasted just 4 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and four walks while striking out four.

The Yankees had an all-too-familiar bottom of the first inning, but this time they were spared a total failure thanks to the Guardians. Gleyber Torres (3-for-4) doubled and Juan Soto singled off Bibee to put the Yankees back in business.

Judge, who had been quiet so far this month despite having regular opportunities to score with runners on base, came up next and skied a pop-up to second base. But shortstop Brayan Rocchio let Judge off the hook as the ball hit his glove and ended up in right field, allowing Torres to score from third for the 1-0 lead.

The Yankees came back for more in the second inning as Anthony Volpe and Anthony Rizzo led off with back-to-back singles, putting runners on the corners for Alex Verdugo, who hit a double down the left field line to tie the score at 2 . 0.

After Torres popped out, the Guardians went bold, intentionally walking Soto to load the bases for Judge – the second time a team has done that this season; the first resulted in Judge hitting his 300th career home run against the White Sox in August.

But this time, when the Guardians brought in tough righty Cade Smith to relieve Bibee, it worked. Judge at least made it a productive out and hit a sacrifice fly for the 3-0 lead.

But Smith then struckout Wells to ensure the lead remained there.

The Guardians got to Cole for two runs in the fifth and knocked him out of the game, although Wells’ right elbow kept them from tying the score when he blocked Holmes’ sweeper with the bases loaded and two outs.

The Yankees scored an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, and it could have been more if not for some sloppy baserunning. They had runners on first and second base with no outs and Rizzo stood up when Jazz Chisholm Jr. took too big a lead over second place and was eliminated. Rizzo then doubled to right field, scoring Volpe from first base, with an assist from a bobble from right fielder Will Brennan, to make it 4-2.

But Rizzo ended the inning when he found himself in no man’s land between second and third on a pitch in the dirt to Torres, with the Guardians putting him in a rundown for the third out.