Yankees cruise to Game 1 rout of Guardians as offense erupts

CLEVELAND – After hitting a speed bump in Houston on Thursday, the Yankees reverted right back to their winning ways with a 13-4 win over the Guardians in the first game of a split doubleheader on Saturday. Gerrit Cole gave up back-to-back solo homers in the second, but the Yankees stormed back with four runs in the third and four more in the sixth, as they picked up their fifth win in six games. They also improved to 16-5 after losses on the season, as well as an MLB-best 57-21 overall.

It wasn’t a perfect afternoon for the Yankees, though, as Aroldis Chapman is as big an issue as ever . In his return from an IL stint due to left Achilles tendinitis, Chapman walked all three batters he faced in the seventh and didn’t even wait on the mound for Aaron Boone to come get him after the third walk. Ron Marinaccio got the Yankees out of that mess.

The Yankees had a chance to take an early lead when DJ LeMahieu led off with a walk and a Gleyber Torres single sent him to third. But Giancarlo Stanton grounded into an inning-ending double play. Cole, who had allowed just two earned runs in 20 ⅓ innings in his previous three starts, put the Yankees in a hole when Josh Naylor led off the bottom of the second with a 415-foot blast to center and Franmil Reyes followed with a shot to right to give Cleveland a 2-0 lead.

Facing left-hander Kirk McCarty, who was making just the third appearance — and second start — of his MLB career, the Yankees offense heated up in the third. LeMahieu got them going with a one-out, opposite field homer to right to make it 2-1. Aaron Judge and Torres walked before Stanton whiffed.

Miguel Andujar, called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as the 27th player for the doubleheader , singled to center to drive in Judge and tie the game. Aaron Hicks’ then delivered a base hit to right to score two more to put the Yankees on top. The Yankees continued to pour on runs in the sixth against Anthony Gose.

Hicks — who, like LeMahieu and Torres, reached base four times — walked and Matt Carpenter drilled a homer to right. Later in the inning, with two outs, LeMahieu walked and Judge doubled. Both scored on a Torres single to left to make it 8-2.

Carpenter added an RBI single in the seventh. Cole, meanwhile, rolled after the second. He allowed just a one-out double to ex-Met Andres Gimenez in the fourth and left after six innings.

Cole has now given up just four earned runs in 26 ⅓ innings in four starts since his seven-run disaster in Minnesota. Chapman is showing no signs of turning his season around. He was dreadful in his last five outings before hitting the IL and was just as bad on Saturday, showing no command.

Marinaccio entered with the bases loaded and no one out and got Myles Straw and Steven Kwan to hit into run-scoring grounders before Amed Rosario flied out with the Yankees still ahead by six runs. After the Yankees tacked on a run in the eighth, Lucas Luetge loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but got Sandy Leon looking. .