{"id":78472,"date":"2020-09-30T07:36:09","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T04:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/yankees-needed-just-one-game-to-change-the-narrative\/"},"modified":"2020-09-30T07:36:09","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T04:36:09","slug":"yankees-needed-just-one-game-to-change-the-narrative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/yankees-needed-just-one-game-to-change-the-narrative\/","title":{"rendered":"#Yankees needed just one game to change the narrative"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Yankees needed just one game<\/a> to change the narrative<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n CLEVELAND \u2014 The good people of Northeast Ohio wouldn\u2019t take this as a compliment, and in their defense, it probably isn\u2019t intended as one.<\/p>\n

But never, in this stellar ballpark\u2019s 27-year history, has Progressive Field felt more like Yankee Stadium.<\/p>\n

It can\u2019t be merely the absence of a hostile crowd, because that didn\u2019t stop the Yankees from stumbling all around the Eastern seaboard during this COVID-reduced 2020 season. Maybe, a little bit, supportive bubbled family members seated in the right-field suites helped.<\/p>\n

Definitely, regardless, the Yankees immedia<\/a>tely turned their road disadvantage on its head Tuesday night and vaporized the cloud of anxiety that hovered over them entering this postseason. Just like that, the location notwithstanding, Aaron Boone\u2019s bunch controls this American League wild-card series<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Yankees\u2019 lineup put an absolute beatdown on presumptive AL Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber while their own ace, Gerrit Cole, dazzled in his Yankees postseason debut, adding up to a 12-3 Game 1 laugher over the Indians that, in a pandemic-free world, would\u2019ve emptied out this place pretty close to how it looked here by the end. Up 1-0 in the best-of-three competition, the Yankees can advance to the AL Division Series on Wednesday (weather permitting) if their historic playoff stud Masahiro Tanaka lives up to his earned reputation.<\/p>\n

\"Gleyber
Gleyber Torres accepts congratulations from the dugout after belting a two-run homer in the Yankees\u2019 12-3 Game 1 win over the Indians.<\/span>Corey Sipkin<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cCrowd or no crowd, the Yankees are still gonna show up,\u201d Aaron Judge said.<\/p>\n

Or, as Luke Voit said before the game, \u201cEveryone\u2019s saying we only play good at Yankee Stadium. It\u2019s a bunch of B.S. We\u2019re ready to go. It doesn\u2019t matter if we\u2019re visitors or home.\u201d<\/p>\n

During their slog of a regular season, the Yankees went 22-9 at the Stadium and 11-18 elsewhere, elevating fears when their 2-6 finish to the regular season ensured them of zero tournament games in The Bronx. Yet the empty stands stood out in a way they hadn\u2019t previously: When Judge clobbered a Bieber first-inning fastball into the right-field stands, with DJ LeMahieu already on first base via a single (of course), the Yankees\u2019 dugout exploded with joy, reverberating throughout the ballpark. Such revelry wouldn\u2019t have travel<\/a>ed anywhere as far in normal times, even in hostile territory.<\/p>\n

Boone, referring to the piped-in crowd noise that included legendary fan John Adams pounding on his bass drum, said, \u201cIt felt a little raucous, honestly.\u201d Yet maybe his guys\u2019 raucousness distinguished itself as the only real noise.<\/p>\n

The $324 million (now cut to $301.3 million) man Cole, clearly amped by the platform, responded by mowing down the Indians\u2019 first three hitters Francisco Lindor (strikeout), Cesar Hernandez (strikeout) and Jose Ramirez (pop-out to Gleyber Torres), a most impressive shutdown inning, and the Yankees were off and running. The dugout exploded again, joined by family members from about 12 players, when Torres popped a two-run, fifth-inning homer to left-center field, the knockout punch as the Yankees lead jumped to 7-2 and Bieber departed, having allowed more than twice the most runs (three) he had surrendered in any of his 11 regular-season starts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think all the guys in that room had a good feeling about today, being able to flip the switch after the regular season was over,\u201d said Brett Gardner, who rewarded Boone\u2019s faith in him by homering, doubling and singling as the starting left fielder. The Yankees\u2019 beleaguered lineup displayed versatility, not relying exclusively on the homer while still delivering four of those; they went 3-for-8, all three of those hits singles, with runners in scoring position. <\/p>\n

It was, in all, a virtually stress-free performance in the wake of such a stressful season. Can they move past this nerve-wracking lightning round in short order and head to San Diego, where their rivals the Rays likely will meet them, soaring with confidence?<\/p>\n