The air was crisp, the weather cool, and it had the feeling of October Playoff baseball at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. The only thing missing were live fans in the stands.
The Cleveland Indians hosted the New York Yankees in game one of their wild card series matchup.
With the opening game featuring aces Shane Bieber for Cleveland and Gerrit Cole with New York, Bieber blinked first as the Yankees claimed a 12-3 victory.
Bieber gave up a single to DJ LeMahieu to start the game and then star outfielder Aaron Judge rocketed a home run, only the second time the likely AL Cy Young had given up an earned run all year in the first inning.
Bieber struggled all night, giving up seven earned runs. He hadn’t given up more than three in an outing all year and only 14 total earned runs this season.
Josh Naylor was the team’s lone bright spot, going 3-for-3 against Cole and falling a triple short of the cycle on a night where the offense couldn’t capitalize. He ended his last at bat with a double, going 4-for-4 in total.
The two teams play again Wednesday at 7 p.m. Carlos Carrasco faces Masahiro Tanaka. A potential game three will be played Thursday night at 7 p.m.
