GAME 2
Today in the Bronx, the Cleveland Guardians will face the New York Yankees in Game 2 of the 2024 American League Championship Series…The Yankees lead the series 1-0 following last night’s victory by a 5-2 score.
- New York is looking to take a 2-0 lead in the series…Teams to take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven postseason series have gone on to win the series 76 of 91 times(83.5%), including 32 of 37 times in the LCS (86.5%).
- Teams to take a 2-0 lead at home in any seven-game series have gone on to win 50 of 61 times (82%).
- Cleveland is looking to even up the series at 1-1…Teams that win Game 2 to tie up a seven-game series have gone on to win 53 of 100 times (53%), including 22 of 39 times
(56.4%) in the LCS.
2024 AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
- New York is playing in their 19th ALCS, which is the most League Championship Series appearances of any Major League team…This is the Yankees 14th ALCS in the best-of-seven format and fourth in the last eight years… Overall, the Yankees have won 11 of their previous 18 ALCS appearances, including seven of 13 in the best-of-seven format… NYY won 10 of first 11 ALCS appearances, but have lost six of last seven.
- Cleveland is competing in their sixth ALCS and first since 2016…All six ALCS appearances have come in the best-of-seven era… Cleveland has won three of their previous five ALCS appearances, with wins coming in 1995, 1997 & 2016 and losses in 1998 and 2007.
- This series is a rematch of the 1998 ALCS, which was won by the Yankees in six games… New York won Games 4-6 in that series after Cleveland took two of the first three contests.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHERS
The Game 2 starting pitchers, Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee and New York’s Gerrit Cole are both making their third starts of the 2024 Postseason and both had their teams win each of their first two starts in the Division Series.
- Bibee has posted a 2.08 ERA (8.2 IP – 2 ER) to begin the Postseason and was the Guardians regular season leader in starts, innings pitched and strikeouts.
- Tonight is his second career game at Yankee Stadium, with his previous outing being his second career Major League appearance on May 2, 2023 when he also opposed Gerrit Cole.
- Cole is making his fifth career Postseason start vs. Cleveland…He is 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA (27.1 IP – 6 ER) and 41 strikeouts…The four wins are tied with David Wells for the most vs. Cleveland in the Postseason.
- Cole’s 11 career Postseason wins are tied with Greg Maddux and Curt Schilling for seventh most all-time; (Roger Clemens is sixth with 12 wins)…His 142 strikeouts rank ninth on the all-time Postseason list; (Tom Glavine is eighth with 143 SO and Mike Mussina is seventh with 145 SO).
UMPIRES
Today, 2B Umpire Alan Porter will serve as the Crew Chief while Dan Iassogna is in reserve tonight in advance of working Home Plate in Game 3…This seven-man crew also includes Vic Carapazza, Mike Estabrook, Gabe Morales, Chris Segal and Jansen Visconti.
- Estabrook, Morales, Segal and Visconti are making their LCS on-field debuts in this series. All seven umpires could receive one plate assignment during the series if it goes seven games…Each umpire will be in reserve during the game prior to their schedule plate duties.
- Major League Umpires Scott Barry, Alfonso Márquez and Ben May are the Replay Officials for this series.
THE MANAGERS
The 2024 ALCS features Guardians rookie manager Stephen Vogt facing off against New York’s Aaron Boone, the second-longest tenured skipper in the American League (behind Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash).
- Aaron Boone has led his team to the Postseason in six of his seven seasons as Yankees Manager, including three ALCS appearances (2019, 2022 & 2024)
- His teams are 0-2 in League Championship Series, losing to Houston in six games in 2019 and in a four game sweep vs. Houston in 2022.
- Boone holds a 18-18 all-time record in Postseason games as a manager; the 18 wins tie Ron Washington for sixth-most Postseason wins among active managers and tie Miller Huggins for fifth-most all-time among Yankees managers.
- Stephen Vogt has led the Guardians to the ALCS, becoming the first manager in franchise
history to win a playoff series in his first season as a manager. - Vogt is the 16th rookie manager to reach a League Championship Series and seventh in the A.L., joining: Billy Martin (1969 MIN), Jim Frey (1980 KC), Joe M. Morgan (1988 BOS), Cito Gaston (1989 TOR), Ron Gardenhire (2002 MIN) and Alex Cora (2018 BOS). (credit: ELIAS)
- Stephen Vogt and Mets manager Carlos Mendoza are the first pair of rookie managers to reach the League Championship Series in the same season.
ABOUT GAME 1
Last night, the Yankees won Game 1 of the 2024 ALCS by a 5-2 score…Carlos Rodón earned his first career Postseason win after allowing one run across 6.0 innings and Luke Weaver picked up his fourth save of the 2024 Postseason.
- New York scored their runs on a pair of solo HR by Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton, a sac fly by Aaron Judge and two run-scoring wild pitches…Cleveland had a solo HR from Brayan Rocchio and an RBI single by Steven Kwan.
- The Yankees are now 12-7 in Game 1 of the ALCS, including an 9-5 record in the best-of-seven era…New York is 7-4 when hosting Game 1 of the ALCS.
- The Guardians are now 1-5 in Game 1 of the ALCS, and 0-4 when playing Game 1 of the ALCS on the road.
