The first inning of Game 2 of this Guardians-Yankees AL Division Series played like a continuation. Not just of Game 1, but also of the past six years. An AL Central team had shown up in front of the Yankees in October and there was inevitability over where this was heading.

Nestor Cortes went from two on and no out to open the first to a nine-pitch scoreless inning. In the bottom half, Giancarlo Stanton went from furious at home-plate ump Jeremie Rehak for missing what should have been ball four with two outs and one on to regaining his composure and hitting the subsequent full-count Shane Bieber fastball for a homer. The Yankees had a two-run lead and — knowing recent history — that felt like a prelude to gaining a two-nothing lead in this series.

The Yankees have eliminated an AL Central team (Cleveland or Minnesota) four times in four tries since 2017. They had a nine-game postseason winning streak against the division through their Game 1 triumph Tuesday.

But a funny thing happened on the way to Cleveland. The Yankees did not score again. The Guardians played to their strengths — putting the ball in play until something positive fell and getting a winnable game to their power pen. The combination delivered a 4-2, 10-inning win that tied the best-of-five at one game apiece.

“We have to go into their house and take one,” Stanton said. He hesitated a moment then added, “Take two.”

It is a best two-out-of-three now with Cleveland owning the home-field edge because after the Stanton homer, the Yankees were 2-for-14 with men on base, including being hitless in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position.

The Yankees’ offense has been so Aaron Judge-reliant all year and through two games he is 0-for-8 with seven strikeouts. He mentioned his “timing is a little bit off.” Just the timing could not be worse. The Cleveland staff is showing no fear of giving up his 63rd homer, attacking the Yankees’ best player. And the Yankees are in a familiar position — they either get the ball out of the park or they hardly score. Five of their six runs through two games are via homer.

They lost this game using their four best relievers (Lou Trivino, Jonathan Loaisiga, Wandy Peralta and Clay Holmes) to begin what could be four games in four days if this goes the distance. First up is facing Triston McKenzie, who by the Baseball Reference metric “game score” had the third-best start of 2022 against the Yankees when he shut them out on one hit over seven innings on July 3.

“This is nothing new to us,” Judge said of facing hardship. “We have the guys in this room to go out and finish this off.”

They might have to do so against midges that are back in season (remember Joba Chamberlain in 2007?) and the Guardians rediscovering the pest in their offense.

Cleveland, which produced the majors’ second fewest runs via homers, actually had generated all four of their runs through their first three postseason games via home runs. They got one more Friday from Amed Rosario, who tied the score 2-2 against Cortes in the fifth.

But the Guardians, who struck out by far the lowest percentage in the majors, whiffed just three times against Cortes despite reaching a two-ball count 15 times (20 percent). During the season, the lefty struck out 42 percent when reaching two strikes.

Long at-bats elevated Cortes’ pitch count in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Cortes got two outs on six pitches in the fourth, protecting the 2-0 lead. Then Josh Naylor rolled a routine grounder to second, but Gleyber Torres was deep in the shift and it became an infield single. Owen Miller walked on four pitches before Andres Gimenez fell behind 0-2.

Lefties hit just .110 against Cortes this season. But among those with 50 plate appearances with runners in scoring position and two outs, only Judge (.405) and Texas’ Nathaniel Lowe (.388) had a better batting average than Gimenez’s .387. Cortes bemoaned most of all leaving a 0-2 slider for Gimenez to feather to right for an RBI single. The other key to the Francisco Lindor trade, Rosario, homered in the next inning.

And Cortes was done after five innings rather than six or seven, beginning a chain that ultimately brought Jameson Taillon in this game. Trivino, Loaisiga, Peralta and Holmes combined for four shutout innings. But it was four. So, the Yankees turned at the start of the 10th to Taillon, who had relieved once as a pro — on July 1, 2013 for the Double-A Altoona Curves.

Neither Jose Ramirez nor Oscar Gonzalez hit the ball hard off Taillon. Both parachuted balls into empty spaces in the outfield to produce the go-ahead run. Kyle Higashioka noted the excellence of Cleveland’s “scrappy at-bats.”

Then Naylor hit the hardest ball of the game (108.5 mph). Harrison Bader, losing it briefly in the sun, took a bad route and Naylor had an RBI double. Cleveland led 4-2 and its terrific closer, Emmanuel Clase, finished the longest outing of his career, 2 ¹/₃ innings.

Perhaps the Yankees will benefit if Clase cannot pitch in Game 3. This is an attrition series now. The Yankees, through days off and a rainout, have played just twice in nine days. Now, to reach the AL Championship Series, there are no more off-days. There may be midges. There is a tie series. There is Cleveland putting the ball in play.

Can the Yankees get back to what is their Central standard time in October — beating a team like the Guardians?