ALDS Game 2: New York Yankees vs. Cleveland Guardians

After rain washed out the planned Thursday night matchup, the Yankees and Guardians will be back in action tonight for Game 2 of the 2022 American League Division Series. New York took Game 1 thanks to a strong effort on the mound by Gerrit Cole and home runs from Harrison Bader and Anthony Rizzo. That got them off to a 1-0 lead in the series and two victories away from making their third ALCS appearance since the start of 2017.

For tonight’s matchup, the Yankees are set to hand the ball to Nestor Cortes. The All-Star has had a remarkable rise over the last two years, going from back-end bullpen guy and occasional spot starter to the No. 2 starter in a playoff rotation, with an argument that he could’ve gotten the nod in Game 1. Today’s game will be his playoff debut and he’ll look to continue his rise and get the Yankees another win.

Cortes will also play a crucial role considering that yesterday’s postponement would mean that should the series go to a fifth game, the two teams would play four games in four days. The obvious best solution would be for the Yankees to just win today and tomorrow, but pitcher usage is something that they have to at least have in the back of their minds. The Yankees’ bullpen has enough issues and injuries as it is, throwing a bunch of extra innings into the mix ahead of a potentially tightly-packed schedule would be less than ideal.

As for the rest of the Yankees’ lineup, it’s the same starting nine as Game 1, albeit in a slightly different order. Josh Donaldson and Oswaldo Cabrera have been flipped from Tuesday night, with Donaldson now in the #5 spot.

Cleveland is set to give the start to their ace Shane Bieber. He previously got the start for the Guardians in Game 1 of their Wild Card Series against the Rays where he threw 7.2 innings, allowing just one run on three hits, helping Cleveland to a win. The Yankees previously faced Bieber in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series in the expanded 2020 playoffs, where they got him for seven runs on nine hits in just 4.2 innings.

As for the Guardians’ linuep, Owen Miller is in for Will Brennan at DH and they’re running out a slightly different batting order from Game 1.

Come join us in the game thread for today’s Yankee playoff baseball action!

How to watch

Location: Yankee Stadium — Bronx, NY

First pitch: 1:07 pm ET

TV broadcast: TBS

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9, WADO 1380

Online stream: DirecTV Stream (free trial), Sling TV (free trial)

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