New York Yankees 5-1 Cleveland Guardians
Carlos Rodon delivered a dominant outing and New York’s offense came alive early as the Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians 5-1 on Wednesday afternoon to avoid a series sweep.
Yankees avoid sweep, down Guardians 5-1 in series finale
New York wasted no time getting to Guardians starter Luis L. Ortiz, scoring four runs across the first two innings. The Yankees’ first four batters reached base to open the game, with Aaron Judge ripping an RBI triple and Paul Goldschmidt lacing an opposite-field RBI double. Both near-homers gave the Yankees a quick 2-0 advantage.
In the second, Jasson Dominguez drew a leadoff walk and stole second before scoring on a Ben Rice single. Goldschmidt followed with another run-scoring hit, pushing the lead to 4-0 and giving him back-to-back RBI hits to start the game.
Rice and Judge each reached base three times in the win. The rookie catcher now owns a 1.005 OPS on the season out of the leadoff spot, while Judge raised his average to a league-best .419 with a 1.247 OPS. Goldschmidt continued his hot stretch, hitting .383 over his first 94 at-bats.
The early run support was more than enough for Rodon, who continued his strong form with one of his best performances of the year. The left-hander was charged with an unearned run in the first after a Cody Bellinger error extended the inning, but Rodon quickly settled in from there.
His highlight came in the fourth when he struck out the side on just 10 pitches. Rodon worked through a one-out walk in the fifth and finished his day by retiring the final six batters he faced. He went seven innings, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out eight.
Fernando Cruz took over in the eighth and struck out two more Guardians hitters to maintain the four-run lead. Luke Weaver pitched the ninth, working around a one-out single to seal the victory—New York’s 15th of the young season.
The bottom of the Yankees’ lineup continued to scuffle, with Jazz Chisholm, Anthony Volpe, and Austin Wells combining to go 2-for-15 with eight strikeouts. Wells had the lone RBI hit among the group with a double in the sixth. Collectively, the trio holds a .683 OPS through April.
Game MVP: Carlos Rodon
The lefty continued his bounce-back campaign with another strong showing, helping New York halt a two-game skid and avoid being swept in Cleveland.
Roster
| hitters | H-AB | R | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B. Rice1B | 1-3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .288 |
| A. JudgeRF | 2-4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .415 |
| C. BellingerCF | 1-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .177 |
| P. GoldschmidtDH | 3-5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .383 |
| J. Chisholm Jr.2B | 1-3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .165 |
| A. VolpeSS | 0-5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .198 |
| A. WellsC | 1-5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .181 |
| J. DominguezLF | 2-4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .234 |
| O. Cabrera3B | 0-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .262 |
| pitchers | IP | H | ER | BB | K | PC-ST | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C. Rodon | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 90-61 | 3.50 |
| F. Cruz | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11-8 | 2.08 |
| L. Weaver | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11-6 | 0.00 |
Up next
The Yankees (15-7) return to the Bronx to begin a three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays. First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET.
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