Yankees cruise to Game 1 win after Gerrit Cole escapes jam

NEW YORK — Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole could have melted down. In the third inning of Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Tuesday, Cole gave up a solo home run to Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan — who hit six in the regular season — before loading the bases by hitting shortstop Amed Rosario with a pitch, giving up a double to slugger Jose Ramirez and allowing first baseman Josh Naylor to reach first on a fielder's choice with just one out recorded in the inning.

The inning provided every ingredient for the game to get out of hand really quickly. With the Yankees down a run, Cole faced a fork in the road. Cleveland could put the game out of reach with a handful of swings and drive the Yankees ace out of the game in his first playoff start in the Bronx, or he could help New York lock down the first game of the ALDS.

As he stood on the mound with the bases juiced, Cole stepped back and tried to visualize the situations during the season when runners reached base. He tried to lean on how he reacted in those situations while emptying his mind of the high stakes of playoff baseball.

«I prepared myself for traffic. I certainly had quite a bit of it, too many experiences with traffic this year,» Cole said. «You do what you normally do. We were really clear on what pitches we wanted to execute in those situations.»

Those pitches were the curveball and slider, as Cole got Oscar Gonzalez to ground into a force out on a 88.4 mph slider before getting Andres Gimenez to strike out on a nasty 88.4 mph slider in an at-bat that featured just one fastball with three sliders and two curveballs. The moment proved crucial in keeping the Cleveland offense at bay as New York cruised to a 4-1 victory.

«He executed, and that may be