Tanaka’s arm, Judge’s glove give Yankees the edge over Indians
NEW YORK — Masahiro Tanaka’s seven-inning gem was saved when Aaron Judge prevented a home run in right field, and Greg Bird homered to give the New York Yankees a 1-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians in Game 3 on Sunday night, extending their AL Division Series.
Aroldis Chapman got a fiveout save as New York avoided a three-game sweep by the defending AL champions. With two on in the ninth, Chapman struck out cleanup hitter and former Reds teammate Jay Bruce, and Carlos Santana flied out to center.
The Yankees got a splendid performance from Tanaka in an old-fashioned October pitching duel with Cleveland starter Carlos Carrasco. Tanaka got a boost when Judge robbed Francisco Lindor of a two-run homer in the sixth.
Bird came through with the huge hit New York had to have when he connected against loser Andrew Miller in the seventh.
New York rebounded from a bruising loss Friday in Game 2 that led to heavy criticism of manager Joe Girardi, booed Sunday night by the home crowd during pregame introductions.
Game 4 is tonight at Yankee Stadium, with Luis Severino scheduled to start for New York. Cleveland might go with Game 1 winner Trevor Bauer.
Cleveland had won six straight ALDS games.
This was the Yankees’ first 1-0 postseason victory since Game 3 of their 2001 ALDS against Oakland, when Derek Jeter’s backhanded flip beat Jeremy Giambi to the plate for a crucial, memorable out.
Judge’s grab was the big defensive play Sunday. With a runner on first in a scoreless game, Lindor lofted a sixth-inning drive toward the short right-field porch at Yankee Stadium. Judge backed up to the wall with his 6-foot-7 frame and barely needed to jump to extend his glove above the fence and make the catch.