NEW YORK — Andrés Giménez is ready for the rowdy gauntlet of Yankee Stadium.
“It’s a mindset,” the Cleveland Guardians second baseman said through a translator ahead of Monday night’s American League Championship Series opener in the Bronx. “It’s just this sense of belief we can do it because we know we can play baseball the right way.”
In the ALCS for the first time since 2016, second-seeded Cleveland sends right-hander Alex Cobb to the mound as the top-seeded New York Yankees counter with left-hander Carlos Rodón in Game 1 of the best-of-seven matchup.
The winner moves on to the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers or New York Mets, whose National League Championship Series began Sunday night in California.
Cleveland seeks its seventh AL pennant and first since 2016, trying to win its third World Series championship after 1920 and 1948. The Yankees are trying for their 41st pennant and 28th MLB title, a heady history that leaves any year without a ring condemned as catastrophic.
“What makes the Yankees the Yankees is winning and winning a World Series,” said New York shortstop Anthony Volpe, who grew up a Yankees fan in Manhattan and New Jersey. “I have a way better view now than I did when I was a fan. There was some times where we were like basically sitting with our backs against the upper deck top row, and it felt like the stadium was going to come down shaking.”
AL Central champion Cleveland beat the sixth-seeded Detroit Tigers in an AL Division Series that went all five games and wrapped up Saturday, while the AL East-winning Yankees defeated the fifth-seeded Kansas City Royals in four games, giving New York a three-day weekend ahead of the Guardians’ visit.
While the Mets, Yankees and Dodgers are 1-2-3 in MLB payroll this year at $266 million and up, the Guardians are 23rd at $109 million.
“We’re confident in who we are,” said Cleveland’s Stephen Vogt, whose first year as an MLB manager has been a smashing success. “All we can control is us.”
Gerrit Cole, Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil will follow Rodón in the rotation for the Yankees, and Tanner Bibee will start Game 2 for the Guardians.
A chill in the air led some players to wear ski caps for Sunday’s workout.
“I’m sure Yankee Stadium is going to be rocking tomorrow night,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It looks like cooler weather is moving in for these first two games, so it’s going to have that October feel to it.”
Cobb has thrown just 19 1/3 innings in the majors this year. The 37-year-old was an MLB All-Star last year but had hip surgery on Oct. 31 and hadn’t yet returned to the mound when he was acquired from the San Francisco Giants at the July 30 trade deadline.
He made his season debut Aug. 9 and was sidelined after two games by a torn nail on his right index finger. He didn’t allow an earned run over six innings in his Sept. 1 return against the Pittsburgh Pirates, then went back on the injured list with a blister on his right middle finger that ended his regular season.
“I felt on pace to have a pretty normal season after the hip surgery and just had setback after setback,” he said. “I don’t think anything’s gone quite like I expected it to this year, but to look up and to be in the ALCS and have an opportunity to set the tone early is something I’m going to cherish for a long time.
He was 2-1 with a 2.76 ERA in three games and 16 1/3 innings with the Guardians during the regular season, then allowed two runs over three innings in Game 3 of the ALDS against Detroit.
“I’ve done everything I can to make sure that I’ve mentally stayed sharp, gone over my delivery as much as I could with the long layoffs in between,” he said. “Even though it was only three innings in the (ALDS), it helped a lot to get back into that game action and feel the adrenaline of the postseason.”
New York outfielder Juan Soto is 7-for-11 with four homers in his career against Cobb.
While the starters get plenty of attention in the postseason, Cleveland’s bullpen threw 25 2/3 of 44 innings in the ALDS with Detroit and had a 3.16 ERA, up from an MLB-best 2.57 during the regular season.
“We’ve relied on our bullpen all year long, but now in a seven-game — traditional seven games in nine days — you have to do it a little bit differently,” Vogt said. “With the days off we had in the DS, it allowed us to really push the bullpen more than typically.”
Yankees relievers didn’t allow an earned run in 15 2/3 innings against the Royals.