Yankees win Game 2, take 2-0 ALCS lead over Guardians as Aaron Judge hits first homer of playoffs

Throughout this postseason as Aaron Judge’s struggles at the plate mounted, Aaron Boone indicated it was just “a matter of time” before the centerfielder broke out.

That time was the seventh inning Tuesday night in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series.

With the Yankees holding a two-run lead — much of that having to do with some slapdash defense by the Guardians — Judge hit his first homer of these playoffs, a towering two-run shot to give his team some needed breathing room in a 6-3 victory in front of 47,054 at the Stadium.

“It’s always a matter of time with Aaron,” Boone said afterward.

Game 3 is Thursday night at Cleveland’s Progressive Field and, based on the Guardians’ performance the first two games, the Yankees’ next game at the Stadium may well be either Game 1 or Game 3 of the World Series (depending on the winner of the Dodgers-Mets NLCS).

“Guys are excited, but we still know there’s a lot of work to be done,” Judge said. “We’re playing against a good Cleveland team that all year they battled, had some tough games, went through a tough series with Detroit taking it to Game 5 and came out on the other side. The guys in there are focused. They’re prepared.”

With the Yankees leading 4-2 in the seventh — and having not one but two runners picked off second base the inning before — Judge stepped to the plate against righty Hunter Gaddis. Gleyber Torres, who had three hits, was on first. Gaddis delivered a 1-and-1, 95-mph fastball that Judge, 2-for-17 to that point in the postseason, sent 414 feet into the Yankees’ bullpen in right-center. His 14th career playoff homer made it 6-2.

“It’s a tough game. It’s a humbling game,” Judge said. “You can go out there and be 4-for-4 one day and the next day you’re 0-for-4. I’ve been on the losing side of a lot of postseason games, and those are tough. I’ve been on the other side of some good wins. All that matters is we went out there and took care of business, and we’ve got to move on to the next one.”

Judge was responsible in some way for four of the Yankees’ runs; he hit a sky-high pop-up in the first inning that Cleveland shortstop Brayan Rocchio butchered for an error that scored Torres, who led off with a double. Judge’s sacrifice fly in a two-run second made it 3-0.

Gerrit Cole, coming off a dominant seven-inning outing in Game 4 of the Yankees’ ALDS-clinching victory over the Royals, dealt with traffic throughout against the Guardians’ scrappy lineup and was gone after 4 1/3 innings. Clay Holmes came in with the bases loaded and one out and allowed an inherited runner to score in a two-run Cleveland fifth.

Cole’s line was: two runs, six hits, four walks and four strikeouts.

“Bend, don’t break,” Cole said in assessing his night. “Clay picked us up. That was huge.”

The bullpen has been that all postseason. The unit came in having allowed one earned run in 18 2/3 innings this postseason, and it shut down Cleveland until the ninth. Tim Hill (1 2/3 innings) and Tommy Kahnle (1 1/3) combined for three shutout innings. Closer Luke Weaver, who entered the night having not allowed a run in his previous 13 games — postseason included — entered in the ninth with a 6-2 lead and gave up a solo homer to Jose Ramirez.

“We’re going as far as they take us. They are our dogs,” Anthony Rizzo said of the bullpen. “They come in, they’re ready for every guy who’s down there. We have full confidence in it.”

Torres, with six of the Yankees’ 27 walks in the first five playoff games, led off the bottom of the first and got ahead of Tanner Bibee 3-and-1 before roping a 94-mph fastball down the leftfield line for a double. Juan Soto drilled a single to right to put runners on the corners.

Judge popped one sky-high to short, Rocchio camped under the ball near second base, then flat dropped it. Torres scampered home on the error to make it 1-0.

The Yankees made it 2-0 in the second on Alex Verdugo’s RBI double and 3-0 later in the inning on Judge’s sacrifice fly (with runners at second and third, Soto, intentionally walked just twice this season, was intentionally walked to load the bases for Judge).

Jazz Chisholm led off the sixth with a double off lefty Erik Sabrowski and Anthony Volpe walked. Chisholm inexplicably got picked off second and Rizzo hit a shot down the rightfield line that rightfielder Will Brennan mishandled, the error allowing Volpe to score from first to make it 4-2. Verdugo flied out and, after Pedro Avila came on, Rizzo somehow managed to get picked off second, the Yankees’ second unsightly baserunning blunder of the inning.

But as they say, they don’t ask how, they ask how many, and the Yankees are two victories from the World Series.

“It’s about getting wins,” Boone said of the ugly W. “We’re in the postseason.”