• Associated Press

Oct 14, 2024, 10:53 PM ET

NEW YORK —

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    Rodón rebounded from the Yankees’ only loss in the Division Series, limiting the Guardians to a pair of singles before Brayan Rocchio’s sixth-inning homer.

    Steven Kwan pulled the Guardians within three runs when he extended his postseason hitting streak to a team-record 11 games with an RBI single in the eighth off Clay Holmes.

    Luke Weaver entered with runners at the corners. He struck out pinch-hitter Will Brennan and retired José Ramírez on a groundout, and then followed a leadoff walk in the ninth with three straight strikeouts for his fourth save this postseason.

    Game 2 is at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night. Entering this year, teams taking the opener of a series with a 2-3-2 format have won 66 of 99 times.

    Before a sellout crowd of 47,264 that included pop star Taylor Swift, Soto hit his first postseason homer for New York when he drove a high slider from Alex Cobb into the Yankees’ bullpen in right-center.

    Making his first playoff appearance in 11 years, Cobb walked the bases loaded in the third and rookie reliever Joey Cantillo threw a pair of run-scoring wild pitches.

    Cantillo had four wild pitches overall, one shy of the record for a postseason game set by Rick Ankiel of St. Louis in a 2000 NL Division Series opener against Atlanta. The only other time a team scored twice on wild pitches in a postseason inning was by Minnesota against Oakland in the 2002 AL Division Series.

    Rodón struck out nine and walked none, getting 25 misses among 53 swings, matching the fourth-most misses in a postseason game since pitch-tracking began in 2008. His pitches broke so much that catcher Austin Wells had to throw to first three times on strikeouts for the putouts.

    Cobb dropped in 0-2 in the playoffs, making just his fifth start in a season limited by injuries. He threw 36 of 65 pitches for strikes, getting only one swing and miss, and allowed three runs, five hits and three walks in 2 2/3 innings.