Gio: Yankees stars have to show up for team to have chance at deep run

The Yankees enter Monday night looking to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the ALDS, but Gio believes the Bombers are not on stable footing in October if they are going to perform the way they did in Saturday’s series opener.

“Gerrit Cole, bad. Aaron Judge, once again, comes up in big situations multiple times and did not deliver,” Gio said. “They did not look like the dominant team they needed to be.”

Gio says the Bombers’ stars came up small, as Cole didn’t seem to have it from the first pitch of the game, and Judge struck out three times to continue his October struggles. On the bright side, Juan Soto collected three hits in his Yankees playoff debut, but Gio says the Yanks won’t go very far if they get a mediocre Cole and Judge like they did in game one.

“But man, if your stars are gonna be mediocre again,” Gio said. “That's what kills the Yankees when they get to the postseason, is the guys that have carried there, the $300 million guys, those guys aren't at their best in the biggest moment.”

So, what will have Gio feeling better about the Bombers moving forward? How about an offensive eruption in game two that includes heavy contributions from Judge?

“They have to, absolutely have to, pummel the Royals [in game two],” Gio said.