Game 5 is happening tonight, as the New York Yankees used a terrific pitching performance from ace Gerrit Cole to beat the Guardians in Cleveland in Game 4 to force a Game 5 on Monday in their ALDS series.
Cole pitched 7 strong innings for the injury-plagued Yankees, whose normally strong bullpen has been collapsing in late games during the series, and extended the Yankees season for another game.
“He just kept making pitches all night long,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, according to ESPN’s Brad Doolittle. “I thought he was just really in command of the moment, and it was obviously a huge start for us and for him. And to get us that deep in the game set us up real nice.”
“For most of the night, in order to pitch around somebody, and overall, just stuff was pretty good,” Cole said. “But we just executed a lot of good pitches and mixed well. Well enough to get away with a couple of mistakes.”
The Yankees will now look to put the series away and advance to the ALCS with a win at home on Monday night, and will turn to Jameson Taillon for the start.
“There is definitely going to be some added adrenaline and stuff when you step foot in Yankee Stadium,” Taillon said. “I will keep my day as normal as possible.”
“If you would have told me back in March we just signed up to play Game 5 in New York, to go to the ALCS,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said, “I would have jogged to New York. I mean, this is … I’m excited.”
