When & Where To Watch
Tomorrow: Coverage on Game 1 begins on YES & the YES App at 11:30 a.m. with the Pregame Show, which will also precede coverage of Game 2, starting at 5:30 p.m.
Sunday: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 12:30 p.m. with Yankees Batting Practice Today
Hot Start
Having won four out of six games against the Blue Jays and Marlins on their first homestand of the season, the Yankees are off to a 10-3 start overall, giving them the best record in MLB. Before they have a rematch with the Blue Jays in Toronto, they’ll visit a 9-3 Guardians team that has won each of its first four series, although Cleveland did get bad news recently about its ace, former American League Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber, who got off to a strong start this year but will miss the remainder of the season due to Tommy John surgery.
Pinstriped Pulse
Anthony Volpe and Juan Soto have the top two batting averages on the Yankees at .372 and .360 respectively. They rank second and fourth in the AL behind a hitter they will see this weekend: Cleveland’s Steven Kwan, who is batting .386. Volpe was moved up to the leadoff spot Wednesday after he made his first 11 starts batting fifth through seventh in the lineup. Giancarlo Stanton is batting .421 with three home runs over his last five games, and Soto has eight RBI over that same span. Aaron Judge leads the AL with 14 walks, three more than Soto in second place. Carlos Rodon has posted an ERA of 1.72 through his first three outings. Clay Holmes has converted five out of six save opportunities and has not allowed an earned run yet.
How ‘Bout That
When Volpe and Soto powered the Yankees to a 7-0 win over Miami on Monday, they accomplished a feat that had not previously been done by a pair of Yankees in close to a decade! Volpe opened the scoring that night with a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning, then Soto followed suit five batters later. They became the first Yankees duo to each hit a three-run homer in the same inning since Brian McCann and Chris Young did so on Aug. 4, 2015 in a 13-3 win over the Red Sox.
Know The Foe
A top-six finisher in AL MVP voting five times in his career, Jose Ramirez has recorded at least one hit in ten of Cleveland’s first 12 games. Kwan is one of three regular players on the Guardians batting over .300 in the early going this season, along with Josh Naylor (.333) and Andrés Giménez (.326). Josh and his brother Bo, one of Cleveland’s catchers, celebrated National Siblings Day on Wednesday by each hitting a home run in the fourth inning of a win over the White Sox that ended with a walk-off RBI single by Bo. It was the second time for the Naylors and the 10th time overall in MLB history that a combination of brothers each went deep in the same inning. Cleveland has the best bullpen ERA in the Majors at 1.29, and flamethrowing closer Emmanuel Clase has not been scored upon yet, converting four save chances while working six innings. Former Yankees outfielder Estevan Florial is part of the team after he was acquired from the Yanks in December. The Guardians are playing their first season under new manager Stephen Vogt, who played in big league games as recently as 2022. Vogt replaced Terry Francona, who stepped away from the job at the end of last season, ending an 11-year run as Cleveland’s bench boss.
