Luke Weaver's latest lockdown performance seals the Yankees' Game 1 ALCS win

NEW YORK — Juan Soto hit a home run to start a three-run third inning, and it soon felt like the Yankees had moved to the HOV lane toward the World Series.

Carlos Rodon was out while Cleveland Guardians starter Alex Cobb suffered an early knockout.

The reliever who followed Cobb, left-hander Joey Cantillo, unleashed four wild pitches and scored two runs – but the Yanks never took full advantage of Cleveland's unforced errors.

And in the eighth inning of Monday night's AL Championship Series opener, Cleveland suddenly had the game-winning run at the plate with one out, a pitch in October that required a lockdown completion.

In this tense playoff atmosphere, the Yankees relied – in record time – on the late-game presence of Luke Weaver, which was reflected in the sellout crowd's reaction.

After receiving a hero's welcome in chilly Yankee Stadium, Weaver quickly quelled the Guardians' surge and then made a five-out save in front of 47,264 fans to give the Yankees a 5-2 win.

Cool hand “Luuuuuke”

All four of the Yankees' postseason wins in 2024 were saved by Weaver, who repeated his performance after posting a 6.87 ERA as the Cincinnati Reds' starter in 2023 and pitching in the Yankees' bullpen.

Weaver gained momentum this season as a multi-inning bullpen weapon, but “I don't think anyone really knew if he was going to take it and run with it,” pitching coach Matt Blake said of Weaver's deployment as a closer in early September .

“There were a lot of guys trying to get to the last three outs and struggling,” Blake said. “The fact that he was able to be himself and attack the zone is great to see.”

And the “Being Weaver” part is something unique. But the crowd doesn't go “Luuuuke” in the ninth inning because he's quirky and quotable.

You can sense a strikeout, and Weaver fanned four of the six batters he faced – including fanning the team after walking Lane Thomas to start the ninth.

After breaking the logjam in the eighth inning by retiring the dangerous Jose Ramirez, “I felt like the adrenaline was a little bit depleted” when I came back in the ninth inning and “tried to get back up.”

After Thomas left, Weaver had a “What do we do?” moment. “The fans don’t come here to see that.”

Carlos Rodon channels the Yankees' ace

Weaver's chance Monday night was thanks to Rodon's six one-run innings and another painless, scoreless frame from former closer Clay Holmes in the seventh.

Other positive signs that this could be the Yanks' year: Rodon made good on his promise to carry over some of Gerrit Cole's character from Thursday's decisive Division Series win in Kansas City.

“Mentally, I took notes on how he did it,” Rodon said. “And I just wanted to approach it the same way.”

That meant being “completely in control of your emotions,” said coach Aaron Boone, who watched Rodon build a 4-1 lead “with intensity but with a lot of composure.”

After being struck out in the fourth inning of the ALDS Game 2 loss at Stadium last week, he was “under control for most of Monday night” and said he used a fastball-slider combination with some cutters and changeups to Keeping Cleveland on Track Heels.

If the Yanks get more of this version of Rodon — nine strikeouts, zero walks, three hits allowed — they'll get that much closer to the Canyon of Heroes.

And they'll need more than Aaron Judge's good defense in center – he delivered his first RBI of the postseason with a sac fly after another shorted rally in the first inning.

Playing Mr. October, Giancarlo Stanton's monstrous solo home run in the seventh inning became a memorable and timely insurance run for the eighth-inning jam that featured Weaver.

“(Weaver) loves it. “He's such a great person,” said Anthony Rizzo (1-3, walk), who made his debut in October after breaking two fingers in late September.

“He's been buzzing since he won the ninth inning,” Rizzo said, “but it's going to take the entire (bullpen) arsenal” to make it through October.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Luke Weaver's latest lockdown performance seals Yankees' Game 1 ALCS victory