Aaron Judge smacked his first home run of the Major League Baseball playoffs and the New York Yankees beat Cleveland 6-3 on Tuesday, seizing command of the American League Championship Series.

Judge broke open a tight game with his two-run blast in the seventh inning as the Yankees grabbed a 2-0 lead in the best-of seven series, which continues on Thursday in Cleveland.

"We've got to keep things the same," Judge said. "It's going to be a loud environment, a fun environment. We've got to go out there and keep playing our game – feed off the energy and go from there."

The series winner advances to the World Series against either the New York Mets or Los Angeles Dodgers.

Yankees slugger Judge, whose 58 regular-season homers led MLB, crushed a blast over the centerfield wall to give New York a 6-2 lead with his 14th career playoff homer.

"It was good to add two more runs there," Judge said.

The Guardians stranded 11 base runners as four Yankees relief pitchers baffled Cleveland after starter Gerrit Cole went only 4 1/3 innings.

"These guys came in, they're healthy, they're feeling great, some great performances from quite a few guys at the back end," Judge said of New York's relievers.

The Yankees are seeking their first trip to the World Series since winning it for the record 27th time in 2009, while Cleveland has not reached the event since 2016 and last won a World Series in 1948. (AFP)