The Yankees didn’t do everything right in their 6-3 win over the Guardians in Game 2 of the ALCS, but that didn’t seem to matter: Whatever the Yankess’ missteps, the Guardians were more egregious.

The Yankees now take a commanding two-game lead back to Cleveland against a team that seems simply outmatched by the AL East juggernaut. That said, the Guardians had the best home record in the American League; they’re going to need every bit of Progressive Field magic if they want to bring this series back from the brink of oblivion.

Here are three takeaways from Tuesday’s win:

1. The monster stirs

After hitting .133 on the day for these playoffs, Aaron Judge notched his first homer of the postseason, a two-run, 414-foot blast off Hunter Gaddis’ letter-high fastball in the seventh. Earlier, Judge hit two other balls 323 feet, a sacrifice fly in the second and a flyout in the fifth; however, it was a testament to his troubles in the playoffs that Juan Soto was walked intentionally to load the bases with one out in the second, bringing up Judge.

“For Aaron, it’s always a matter of time,” Aaron Boone said. “He had some good swings tonight. (He had) a big sacrifice fly to extend the lead a little bit when he was behind in the count of a pretty tough customer in (Cade) Smith there, able to beat that one. The pop-up they dropped (in the first), I thought he had a great swing too. It’s one that you miss. It’s almost a home run, but it’s definitely good to see him in it the chairs and really give us a cushion there.”

2. The bullpen is said to be the Guardians’ strength; it’s the Yankees

It’s not surprising that the Yankees’ bullpen is doing well; the unit had the sixth-best ERA in the majors this season. But it may be surprising to see the Guardians’ relievers get tagged, especially since they had the highest water mark in the MLB. Part of it has to do with the starters putting a lot of pressure on the relief corps. Alex Cobb threw only 2 2/3 innings on Monday and staff ace Tanner Bibee lasted 1 1/3 innings on Tuesday, meaning manager Stephen Vogt had to use seven more pitchers to finish the game.

“These guys have thrown a lot all year,” Vogt said. “Again, we didn’t overload anyone today. We didn’t overload anyone yesterday. So with the day off, our bullpen should be back to full strength. We’ll regroup and go after it.”

However, the Yankees’ relievers only seem to be getting stronger: Clay Holmes, Tim Hill, Tommy Kahnle and Luke Weaver combined for 4 2/3 innings of one-run ball. The unit has a 0.77 ERA in 23 1/3 postseason innings.

“We have a lot of confidence in ourselves,” said Holmes, who did not allow a run in these playoffs and retired Gerrit Cole in a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the fifth (Holmes allowed a hereditary runner to score on a force out). . “There have definitely been some ups and downs, but I think it has prepared us and battle-tested us for this opportunity. It was fun to see guys step up and pass the ball.”

3. Ultimately, all these missed opportunities can come back to haunt them

It might not happen against the Guardians, whose pitching isn’t putting up much of a fight, but despite the two-game lead, the Yankees continue to leave runs on the base paths. Their situational hitting struggled and their baserunning got into the mix on Tuesday. They are 8-for-52 with runners in scoring position in the postseason, including 0-for-7 in Game 1. Tuesday was hardly better: They went 2-for-10 with men at second and third base and left valuable points behind. the basepaths against a withering Guardians bullpen. In the sixth, they had two runners on second base via a pickoff – first Jazz Chisholm Jr. (costing them a run) and then Anthony Rizzo to end the inning.

“It’s about winning. We are in the postseason. I mean, those things are going to happen,” Boone said of the baserunning blunders. “We won’t be aggressive in certain situations, but we try to protect ourselves from (mistakes) as best we can. Then Rizz just gave a funky lecture on what he thought ultimately went to the backstop. I feel like overall we’re playing pretty well.”

Laura Albanese is a reporter, writer and columnist for local professional sports teams; she started at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.