The Yankees jumped out to an early lead in game one of the ALCS with a lot of help from Guardians reliever Joey Cantillo.
The lefty came on in relief of Cleveland starter Alex Cobb in the bottom of the third and struggled to find the plate from the start, walking three batters in 0.1 innings of work, including four wild pitches, setting an American League playoff record.
With the bases loaded, Cantillo’s first wild pitch came right away, allowing Aaron Judge to score before walking Anthony Rizzo. A second wild pitch brought home Giancarlo Stanton to extend the Yankee lead to 3-0.
Bo Naylor didn’t do Cantillo any favors behind the plate, but multiple pitches from Cantillo were spiked feet short of home plate, as the Yankees had themselves a rally without having to pick the bat off their shoulders.
Cantillo threw two more wild pitches in the fourth to allow Gleyber Torres to move from first to third before finally being pulled. Torres would come around to score on an Aaron Judge sac fly.
According to Stathead’s Katie Sharp, the Yankees’ two runs scored via wild pitch in the same inning was just the second time in postseason history, joining game four of the 2002 ALDS, when A’s pitchers Tim Hudson and former Yankee Ted Lilly couldn’t find the zone.