The Guardians take down the Yankees 3-2 to spoil a four-hit night from Aaron Judge

Cleveland—The Yankees fell to the Guardians 3-2, as the Guardians also secured the series win. Will Warren got the start for the Yankees, and Tanner Bibee took the mound for the Guardians.

Ben Rice was back in the lineup today after missing the last two games with a left elbow contusion, and he wasted no time getting the scoring started as he crushed the first pitch of the game for a solo home run to make it a 1-0 Yankees lead. 

Will Warren retired the Guardians in order in the bottom of the third and picked up his third strikeout of the game in the process. 

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Warren worked a 1-2-3 inning and picked up a strikeout on a beautiful backdoor sweeper. 

In the top of the fifth inning, Tanner Bibee retired J.C. Escara, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Ben Rice in order on just five pitches. 

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Aaron Judge made a nice diving catch to help Warren set the Guardians down in order. Warren also picked up his fifth strikeout of the game. 

In the top of the sixth inning, Judge started things with a leadoff double, his third hit of the ballgame to put his average up to .404 on the season. A couple batters later, Paul Goldschmidt legged out an infield single, and the next batter, Jazz Chisholm Jr., picked up a sacrifice fly to make it a 2-0 game.

Warren came back out for the bottom of the sixth and gave up back-to-back singles to knock him out of the game. Mark Leiter Jr. came in to replace Warren. The Guardians got on the board as Steven Kwan came around to score on a chaotic passed ball from catcher J.C. Escara to make it a 2-1 game. The next batter, Kyle Manzardo, picked up a RBI double to make it a 2-2 ballgame. A couple of batters later, the Guardians took a 3-2 lead due to an RBI infield single from Daniel Schneeman.

“It's a part of the game; sometimes it goes your way, and sometimes it doesn't,” Leiter Jr. said about the sixth inning. “I think just making pitches and trying to induce some weak contact, but you know the ball didn't fall our way.”

Tim Hill replaced Leiter Jr. on the mound and worked out of a bases-loaded jam to end the sixth inning. Hill stayed in the game in the seventh, and worked an easy five-pitch 1-2-3 inning. 

Will Warren's final line: five plus innings pitched, three hits allowed, two earned runs, one walk, and five strikeouts on 82 pitches. Warren looked unhittable for the first five innings of this game. He had his sweeper working and was really locating the fastball well on the corners. Unfortunately, they left Warren in a little too long as he returned for the sixth to face the Guardians lineup for a third time and immediately gave up back-to-back singles. 

“Any time they put nine lefties in there, it's going to be a challenge,” Warren said. “I was actually saying to Stroman, two years ago myself would have been extremely happy with how that went. Lefties used to be my kryptonite, and now I feel like I have the confidence to go out there with whoever is in their lineup.” 

Aaron Judge led off the top of the eighth inning with a leadoff single, his fourth hit of the night to bring his average up to .411 on the year. Judge then stole second base, and Jazz worked a walk, but Anthony Volpe struck out to strand the tying run at second base. 

“I’m just trying to get on base for the guys behind me,” Judge said. “That's the biggest thing, especially hitting in the two hole. You've got Ben Rice in front of you, who's going to have a good at bat or leave the park on the first pitch. He’s just been so impressive, and you know when you've got Bellinger and Goldschmidt behind you. You just have to do whatever you can to touch first base and get to second.” 

Luke Weaver replaced Hill on the mound in the bottom of the eighth and worked an easy 1-2-3 inning. 

The Yankees went down without much of a fight. Jasson Dominguez, Austin Wells, and Oswaldo Cabrera were set down in order on just four pitches, ending the game 3-2. 

The Yankees will try to avoid getting swept tomorrow, Carlos Rodon will get the ball for the Yankees, and Luis L. Ortiz will get the start for the Guardians. The first pitch will be at 1:10 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: Warren had a solid start, which might have been the best start of his young career. He probably shouldn't have come back out to pitch in the sixth inning, but that's easy to say now. Anthony Volpe and Cody Bellinger need to figure it out offensively. Volpe's at-bats are starting to become hard to watch. Aaron Judge with a 4 for 4 game, he's unbelievable. It was nice to have Ben Rice back in the lineup. This is by no means an excuse for why the Yankees lost, but it definitely didn’t help; the home plate ump was terrible tonight; it seemed like he blew at least 20 calls. Tomorrow, the Yankees need to salvage the final game of this series and get their offense going.