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    • Luke Weaver’s lockdown performance seals Yankees’ ALCS Game 1 win
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    Luke Weaver’s lockdown performance seals Yankees’ ALCS Game 1 win

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    NEW YORK – Juan Soto homered to spark a three-run third inning, and it quickly felt like the Yankees had moved up the HOV lane toward the World Series.

    Carlos Rodon was cruising while Cleveland Guardians starter Alex Cobb suffered an early knockout.

    The reliever following Cobb, left-hander Joey Cantillo, unleashed four wild pitches – good for two runs – but the Yanks never took full advantage of Cleveland’s unforced errors.

    And by the eighth inning of Monday night’s AL Championship Series opener, Cleveland suddenly had the tying run at home with one out, a spot in October that required a shutdown.

    In this pressured playoff atmosphere, the Yankees have come to rely – in record time – on the late presence of Luke Weaver, as evidenced by the reaction of the sellout crowd.

    After receiving a hero’s welcome at the chilly Yankee Stadium, Weaver quickly quelled the Guardians’ rally and then finished off a five-out save in a 5–2 Yankees win in front of 47,264 fans.

    Cool hand ‘Luuuuuke’

    All four of the Yankees’ 2024 postseason wins were saved by Weaver, who repeated his feat after posting a 6.87 ERA as the Cincinnati Reds starter in 2023 and landing in the Yanks’ bullpen.

    Weaver gained momentum as a multi-inning bullpen weapon this season, but “I don’t think anyone really knew if he was going to take it and run with it,” pitching coach Matt Blake said of Weaver’s assignment in early September as closer.

    “There have been plenty of guys who have tried to get the last three outs and struggled,” Blake said. “The fact that he was able to be himself and attack the zone is great to see.”

    And the ‘Being Weaver’ part, that’s unique. But the crowd doesn’t say “Luuuuke” in the ninth inning because he’s quirky and quotable.

    They sense a strikeout, and Weaver fanned four of the six batters he faced – including fanning the team after walking Lane Thomas to start the ninth.

    After ending that jam in the eighth inning by eliminating the dangerous Jose Ramirez, “I felt like the adrenaline was a little depleted” when I came back in the ninth, “trying to get going again.” ‘

    Once Thomas was walking, Weaver had a “what are we doing?” moment. “The fans don’t come here to watch.”

    Carlos Rodon channels the Yankees’ ace

    Weaver’s chance Monday night came courtesy of Rodon’s six-inning, one-run effort and another painless, scoreless frame from ex-closer Clay Holmes in the seventh.

    More positive signs that this could be the Yanks’ year: Rodon made good on his promise to channel some of Gerrit Cole’s personality from Thursday’s Division Series finale in Kansas City.

    “Mentally I was taking notes on how he handled it,” Rodon said. “And I just wanted to approach it the same way.”

    That meant he was “in full control of his emotions,” said manager Aaron Boone, who watched Rodon use “intensity, but with a lot of poise” to hand out a 4-1 lead.

    After being flamed out in the fourth inning of last week’s ALDS Game 2 loss at the Stadium, “I had it under control most of Monday night,” Rodon said of using a fastball-slider combo with some cutters and turnovers to keep Cleveland in place. heels.

    If the Yanks get more of this version of Rodon — nine strikeouts, zero walks, three hits allowed — they’ll be that much closer to the Canyon of Heroes.

    And they need more than Aaron Judge’s good defense at center. He delivered his first RBI of the postseason with a sacrifice fly after another shorted rally in the first inning.

    Giancarlo Stanton’s monster solo homer in the seventh inning played the role of Mr. October and became a memorable and timely insurance run for Weaver’s eighth-inning jam.

    “(Wever) loves it. First and foremost, he’s such a great person,” said Anthony Rizzo (1-for-3, walk), who made his debut in October after breaking two fingers in late September.

    “He’s been lights out since he got the ninth inning,” Rizzo said, “but it’s going to take the whole (bullpen) arsenal” to get through October.

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