NEW YORK—Juan Soto homered in New York’s three-run third inning, Carlos Rodón earned his first postseason victory and the Yankees took advantage of Cleveland’s wildness in a 5-2 win Monday night in Game 1 of the AL Championship Series.

Cleveland became the second team to throw a pair of run-scoring wild pitches in a postseason inning, tying a postseason record with five overall. Guardians pitchers walked six batters in a span of nine batters and nine overall.

Giancarlo Stanton added his 13th postseason homer for the Yankees, who are seeking a record 41st AL pennant. New York batters have walked 36 times in five postseason games.

Rodón rebounded from the Yankees’ only loss of the Division Series, limiting the Guardians to a pair of singles before Brayan Rocchio’s homer in the sixth inning.

Steven Kwan pulled the Guardians within three runs when he extended his postseason hitting streak to a team-record 11 games with an RBI single in the eighth off Clay Holmes.

Luke Weaver came in with runners on the corners. He retired pinch-hitter Will Brennan and retired José Ramírez on a groundout, then followed up with a walk in the ninth with three straight strikeouts for his fourth save this postseason.

Game 2 is Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. This year, teams that played the opener of a series with a 2-3-2 format have won 66 out of 99 times.

Before a sold-out crowd of 47,264, including pop star Taylor Swift, Soto hit his first postseason homer for New York when he drove a high slider from Alex Cobb into the Yankees’ right-center bullpen.

Cobb made his first playoff appearance in 11 years, walking a bases-loaded batter in the third and rookie reliever Joey Cantillo threw a pair of run-scoring wild pitches.

Cantillo totaled four wild pitches, one shy of the postseason game record set by St. Louis’ Rick Ankiel in a 2000 NL Division Series opener against Atlanta. The only other time a team scored twice on wild pitches in a postseason inning was Minnesota vs. Oakland in the 2002 AL Division Series.

Rodón struck out nine and walked none, allowing 25 misses on 53 swings, tied for the fourth-most misses in a postseason game since pitch tracking began in 2008. His pitches broke so badly that catcher Austin Wells had to throw to first three times. strikeouts for the outs.

Cobb fell to 0-2 in the playoffs, making just his fifth start in an injury-limited season. He threw 36 of 65 pitches for strikes, had just one swing and miss, and allowed three runs, five hits and three walks in 2 2/3 innings.