Did you have fun tonight? Because I had fun tonight. The Yankees had fun, too, jumping arguably the game’s best pitcher, then cruising to 12-3 victory. We’ll have a full recap up a little later tonight. In the meantime, here are some highlights:
Winner of the Game
Shout out to the Yankees for following my game plan, sitting on Shane Bieber’s fastball and spitting on his filth. The result? The Bombers dropped seven runs on the prohibitive Cy Young favorite. Shout out to Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres, who each launched two-run homers; Brett Gardner, DJ LeMahieu, and Luke Voit deserve plenty of credit, too. They were all over Bieber, handing a comfortable lead to Gerrit Cole. Gardy, whom I didn’t want in the starting lineup, swatted a dinger off Cam Hill.
Now, Cole, let’s talk about Cole, beginning with a simple, declarative sentence: Gerrit Cole is a Yankee. The ace right-hander pitched seven innings of two-run ball, and those were some stress-free innings. He struck out 13 batters along the way, with the only damage coming in the form of a José Ramírez RBI and a Josh Naylor solo home run. This is exactly the game the Yankees signed Cole for, and he delivered in a big way,
Loser of the Game
Giancarlo Stanton had himself a rough game. The Yankees’ designated hitter went...and Stanton just hit a solo homer in the top of the ninth! Scratch that. Hard to find a loser in a 12-3 postseason victory, right?
Honorable Mention: Alex Rodriguez in the ESPN booth.