Rodón’s gem, HRs from Soto and Stanton help Yankees win Game 1

NEW YORK – Juan Soto hit a home run in New York’s third inning, Carlos Rodón picked up his first postseason win and the Yankees capitalized on Cleveland’s ferocity to a 5-2 win Monday night in Game 1 of the AL Championship Series.

Cleveland became the second team to throw two run-scoring wild pitches in a postseason inning and set a postseason record with a total of five runs. The Guardians’ pitchers walked six batters in a span of nine and nine total.

Giancarlo Stanton hit his 13th postseason home run for the Yankees, who are seeking a record 41st AL pennant. New York batters have drawn 36 walks in five postseason games.

Rodón rebounded from the Yankees’ only loss in the Division Series, limiting the Guardians to two singles before Brayan Rocchio’s home run in the sixth inning.

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

Luke Weaver came in with runners on the corners. He struck out pinch-hitter Will Brennan and retired José Ramírez with a groundout. A leadoff walk followed in the ninth with three strikeouts in a row for his fourth save of the postseason.

Game 2 is Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. Earlier this year, teams that won the opener of a series in the 2-3-2 format won 66 of 99 times.

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

In his first playoff appearance in 11 years, Cobb walked the bases at full speed in the third and rookie reliever Joey Cantillo threw two wild run-scoring pitches.

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

Rodón threw nine strikeouts and walked nothing. He made 25 misses in 53 swings, which was the fourth-most misses in a postseason game since pitch tracking began in 2008. His throws broke so much that catcher Austin Wells had to throw three strikeouts to first place for the putouts.

Cobb went 0-2 in the playoffs, making it just his fifth start in an injury-marred season. He threw 36 of 65 pitches for strikes, managed just one swing and miss, and allowed three runs, five hits and three walks in 2 2/3 innings.