The Yankees have been in the trenches at many points this 2024 postseason. Most of the time they fled. In a tough, chaotic battle with the Guardians, the Yankees took more chances, took advantage of more of their opponents' mistakes and finally scored the big hit late that sealed the deal. Aaron Judge finally hit his first home run of the playoffs and the Yankees won 6-2 and took a 2-0 ALCS lead.

The Yankees' offense began with a sequence that has become a familiar refrain in these playoffs. Gleyber Torres, who was great from the starting position, doubled Tanner Bibee to start the night. Juan Soto hit a single to right to move Torres to third and give Judge a chance to give the Yankees the early lead. He appeared to have failed when he popped up to shortstop a mile up. But Brayan Rocchio, named today as one of the Guardians' four Gold Glove finalists, dropped the ball Luis Castillo-style. Torres scored on the costly E6, putting the Yankees on the field.

It was obviously a big mistake, made even worse by the fact that the Yanks went down in order after the faux pas. Bibee threw 27 pitches in that first inning; Cole only needed one more to get through two. Just like his last start against the Royals, he was fastball-heavy from the jump. He pitched a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts in the first inning before stranding Josh Naylor at first base in the second.

The Yankee lineup stepped up again in the second, with Anthony Volpe scoring a leadoff hit and moving to third on a subsequent single by Anthony Rizzo. Alex Verdugo came in with runners on the corners and hit a liner down the left field line that grazed the back of umpire Vic Carapazza in fair territory. Volpe scored, Rizzo went to third, and the Yankees ejected Cleveland's starter before he could get five outs.

Manager Stephen Vogt called for Soto to intentionally accompany Cade Smith to Judge to pitch. Of the three outstanding rookie relievers the Guardians use, Smith is probably the worst. He strikes out opposing batters over 35 percent of the time and has held them to a batting average under .200. In other words, it was a tough pitcher for Judge to snap out of his panic, even with the bases loaded.

Judge was trapped but had enough strength to hit it deep enough to left center to score Rizzo. His second sac fly of the series made it 3-0 for the Yankees. Smith then made quick work of the struggling Austin Wells, putting three more Pinstripers out to sea.

They could have quickly caught up when Cole allowed a hit and a walk to tie the score for the Guardians. But Kyle Manzardo came out with some poor swings on poorly located pitches, then José Ramírez fired one into right-center. Cole had neutralized the threat for now.

But the Guardians came back in the following frame and got the first two runners on board. Cole then issued a walk to load the bases with one out. Vogt went to his bench and asked David Fry to bat for Bo Naylor. Cole got him to pop up in foul ground on the first pitch against Jazz Chisholm Jr., then beat the hard-hitting Rocchio after a long fight to avert the crisis again.

Problems arose again in the fifth game. Kwan and Manzardo greeted Cole with consecutive singles, then Ramírez walked to load the bases with no one out. The bullpen sprung into action as Naylor popped a ball to right for a sac fly to finally get Cleveland on the board. When Thomas took a walk to load the bases, manager Aaron Boone finally threw his arms up and removed his wild ace, calling on Holmes to get two key outs with no margin for error.

Holmes traded a run for an out due to Brennan's choice of a fielder. After the lead had shrunk to 3-2, backup catcher Austin Hedges – fortunately one of the worst hitters in baseball – came in with new bases. With the score at 0-2, Holmes completely missed a break ball, but Wells made a great stop to preserve the Yankee lead. Holmes hit Hedges swinging on the next pitch. He would earn the win in relief.

Cole's command waned after the first two innings, particularly with his fastball. He failed to get Cleveland batters to chase his offspeed offerings and was bailed out by poor approaches on a few occasions – Manzardo and Fry hitters being prime examples. The ace finished with two runs on six hits with four walks and four K's.

After Tim Hill restored sanity with a 1-2-3 sixth, Chisholm threw that sanity to the wind by being picked off at second base after a leadoff double. Luckily, broken fingers and all, Rizzo managed to defibrillate the rally with a base hit down the right field line. Volpe, running first, fired home as Brennan struggled to get the ball into the corner. He scored a crucial insurance run, but without Chisholm's blunder it could have been two runs. Then Rizzo wasted his goodwill Also was fended off between second and third when he strayed too far from the bag on a ball blocked by Hedges. This team may win, but it will also test your patience almost every time.

Hill got two more big outs without incident, and Tommy Kahnle dodged a walk to put another zero on the board. The Cleveland bullpen was in the spotlight, and rightly so, but the Yankee bullpen stole the show, coming up with leads to protect and preserve with flying colors.

In the seventh game, facing the fantastic Hunter Gaddis, Aaron Judge took a huge hit. He launched a ball 37 degrees into the air toward center, to the deepest part of the park. There's no way a ball that high in the air can go anywhere on a cold night, right? Incorrect.

Judge hit it at 111.3 mph, and it easily cleared the wall for his first home run of the 2024 postseason.

Now that Judge has that ten-ton gorilla off his back, perhaps the offense will finally be in full swing. However, that wasn't necessary as there was still no play in the bullpen as it was strictly playoffs. Kahnle held the guards in place so Luke Weaver could only collect three outs tonight. Ramírez hit a home run over the short porch to bring Cleveland within a run, but Weaver stayed the course, securing the win and taking a two-games-to-nil lead in the series.

The Yankees will be back in action on Thursday night in Cleveland as they look to bury the Guardians in a 3-0 hole. Clarke Schmidt is expected to start for the Yanks, and while Vogt hasn't officially named his starter for Game 3, it's likely it will be veteran southpaw Matthew Boyd. Progressive Field's first pitch is at 5:08 p.m. ET on TBS.

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