Yankees ride Rodon's 'dominant performance' vs. Guardians for 1-0 ALCS lead

Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Carlos Rodon allowed just three hits and one run, while issuing nine strikeouts over six innings, to silence the Cleveland Guardians and give the New York Yankees a 1-0 lead in the American League Championship Series.

Outfielder Juan Soto and designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton each homered in the 5-2 triumph Monday at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees will host the Guardians in Game 2 on Tuesday in New York.

"That was a dominant performance, in Game 1 of the championship series" Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Rodon. "That was really good to see, how in command he was. Because he is intense. He is emotional at times. I thought he commanded all that so well.

"That's what he's capable of when he's dialed in like that."

Rodon retired 15 of the first 17 batters he faced, including a streak of 11-consecutive hitters. Soto put the first run on the scoreboard with a 401-foot solo shot to lead off the bottom of the third. The Yankees plated two more runs off wild pitches in the same inning.

Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge scored second baseman Gleyber Torres with a sacrifice fly in the fourth for a 4-0 advantage.

The Guardians finally got on the scoreboard when shortstop Brayan Rocchio hit a 378-foot solo homer to lead off the sixth. Stanton responded with a 439-foot solo homer in the seventh.

Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan brought in the game's final run with an RBI single in the eighth. Yankees relief pitcher Luke Weaver then entered the game and did not allow a hit or run over the final 1 2/3 innings to earn his fourth save of the postseason.

The top-seeded Yankees will host the No. 2 Guardians in Game 2 at 7:38 p.m. EDT Tuesday on TBS. Game 3 will be Thursday in Cleveland.

The winner of the best-of-seven game series will meet the winner of the National League Championship Series in the World Series. The No. 6 New York Mets beat the top-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers 7-3 in Game 2 on Monday in Los Angeles to tie that series at 1-1.

Game 3 of the NLCS will be at 8:08 p.m. Thursday in Queens.