CLEVELAND (AP) On a night for debates, Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole and the New York Yankees made quite an opening statement.
Shane Bieber had no rebuttal.
Judge smashed a tone-setting, two-run homer on Bieber's fourth pitch, Cole struck out 13 in his New York playoff debut and the Yankees opened their AL wild-card series with a resounding 12-3 win over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday.
Just a few miles from where President Donald Trump and campaign opponent Joe Biden made their cases to the nation in their presidential debate, the Yankees teed off against Bieber, who was baseball's best pitcher during the condensed regular season but ineffective in his playoff debut.