ALDS
ALDS: Bauer And Crew Shut Down Yankees Bats In 4-0 Victory
Indians take 1-0 series lead in best of five.
The Cleveland Indians are on a mission to give their fans the elusive World Series Title and on Thursday night against the New York Yankees they took that first important step.
In the first game of the ALDS, the Indians showed just how difficult it will be for any team to stop this fast-moving locomotive. We all saw them win 22 straight games down the stretch, and finish 26-4 in their last 30 games. This is a team that is poised to run through the postseason straight to the crown and after they dismantled the Yankees lineup on Thursday, there seems to be no way to stop them.
Trevor Bauer, who won a career high 17 games this season, had a no-hitter through 5.1 innings before giving up a one-out double to Aaron Hicks. En route to his first postseason victory, he allowed just two hits, shutting out the Yankees for 6.2 innings, walked one batter, and struck out eight in a masterful performance. His key to success; take the bats away from the big hitters and he proved that as he befuddled Aaron Judge with nasty breaking balls, fanning the AL home run leader four times.
As for the offense, the Indians had just enough, scoring a run in the second and the biggest blow coming from the bat of Jay Bruce, as he launched a two-run bomb over the right field fence to extend the lead to 3-0. Bruce then added an insurance run in the fifth on a sac-fly scoring Jose Ramirez for a 4-0 lead.
Other than Hicks, Starlin Castro was the only Yankee that had any success on the night as he finished 2 for 4, with two singles. But the Indians pitchers stole the show as they confused the Yankee hitters and kept an explosive offense in check.
After Bauer, Andrew Miller tossed an inning, walking two and striking three and Cody Allen earned the save with 1.1 innings, allowing just one hit, no walks and three strikeouts.
The Indians now look to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best of five game series, when they take the field at 5:00 pm Friday with 18-game winner Corey Kluber matching up against Yankees CC Sabathia.
Will the Yankees bounce back and take down the giant or will the Indians continue their march to the title? Stay tuned…….
David Conde
David is the Co-Founder and Executive Editor of Legends On Deck®, as well as a Co-Host on Legends On Deck Podcast. David was a Senior Editor for MetsMerizedOnline.com, MetsMinors.net and Contributor for Hardballchat.com that spanned from 2010 to 2014. David made his MLB Debut as a writer in June 2014, while covering the NY Mets at Citi Field, for MetsmerizedOnline.com. David also coaches baseball for ages 13-15, a Babe Ruth League team in his local community. David's passion is coaching the game he loves to the future Legends of Tomorrow as well as making available a website that people can have fun sharing and reading. David is also passionate about his career as a Mortgage Loan Officer which allows him to help many families reach their dreams of owning a home. Connect with David via his Social Media pages as he loves to chat all about baseball.
