Bauer baffles Judge, Yankees in opener
Cleveland righty fans slugger three times as Indians start title chase
CLEVELAND — Trevor Bauer made Aaron Judge look silly. He made his manager look like a genius.
Named a surprise starter for Game 1, Bauer chopped Judge and the New York Yankees’ other big bats down to size as the Cleveland Indians began chasing their first World Series title in 69 years with a 4-0 victory Thursday night in the opener of the AL Division Series.
Jay Bruce led the Indians offensively with a two-run homer and three RBIS overall.
Bauer struck out Judge three times, twice getting the MVP candidate looking. He allowed two hits in 6 2/3 innings before manager Terry Francona, who chose to start the righthander over ace Corey Kluber, turned to baseball’s best bullpen, using Andrew Miller and closer Cody Allen to finish the three-hitter.
Allen earned the save, coming in with two on and two outs in the eighth to face Judge, who struck out for the fourth time and angrily snatched at his bat frustration.
Bruce connected for a two-run homer in the fourth off Sonny Gray and added a sacrifice fly in the fifth as the Indians began a journey to try and end the majors’ longest Series title drought.
Eyebrows were raised when Francona said he was going with Bauer instead of Kluber, and the eccentric right-hander, perhaps best known for slicing a pinkie open while repairing a drone during last year’s postseason, delivered a performance that started October just right for the Indians.
“Trevor from pitch one, he had his breaking ball early, and he had a good one,” Francona said. “He had his life on his fastball. He pitched in. I thought he pitched a terrific game.”
Kluber, an 18-game winner during the regular season, will start Game 2 on Friday against CC Sabathia.
Coming off their win over Minnesota in the wild-card game Tuesday, when Judge homered in his playoff debut, the Yankees came in with momentum.
Bauer stopped the Bronx Bombers in their tracks.
He struck out eight and took a no-hitter into the sixth before Aaron Hicks doubled with one out. It was the longest no-hit bid by a Cleveland pitcher in the postseason, bettering Hall of Famers Bob Feller (1948) and Early Wynn (1954), who both went four innings.
Bauer improved to 3-0 this season against the Yankees.
“His curveball was really good,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “It’s as good as we’ve seen it, and he’s been pitching better. You look at his second half, and he had better command. We didn’t get many free base runners, which we have in the past off of him, and he was really good.”
Bauer got help from All-star-second baseman-turned-center fielder Jason Kipnis, who made a diving catch to rob Chase Headley in the third. As Kipnis slowly got to his feet, Bauer raised both arms above his head, pumped his fist and screamed to salute his teammate.
“All I’ve been hearing is that I shouldn’t be playing center field,” Kipnis said. “That was a fun one to run down and be a part of. I had a good time. I’m very happy.”