The Cleveland Indians have been totally abysmal and for a Yankee team that just got swept in Chicago and in which nobody other than Jeter is hitting, the Tribe were the right opponent at the right time. CC Sabathia was making the start after being complete with his second DL stint in many weeks and the rest certainly paid dividents as he was able to get the team back on the right track.
That man again, Derek Jeter, started the game with a double and would come around to score soon after on a Nick Swisher RBI double to follow. Opposing starter Corey Kluber must have been unhappy with the Jeter double and the overall hot streak the Captain has been on, since the next at-bat he buzzed Jeter in the head and knocked off the helmet. Luckily Jeter wasn't hurt, but that forced CC Sabathia to send a little message of his own since he's never one to back down from a bean-ball conversation. Sabathia put his perfect start to the game in his back pocket and threw behind Indians shortstop (Jeter's position) Asdrubal Cabrera in the bottom of the 4th. Sabathia made the mistake of missing because on the next pitch Cabrera got the last laugh by hitting a solo homer to center to tie the game 1-1. After the drama Sabathia got back to pitching and put zeros up for the rest of his night. Nick Swisher broke the tie in the 7th with a much needed 2-run homer off of Cody Allen. Rafael Soriano entered the 9th with the 3-1 lead and made it interesting by loading the bases with two outs, but was able to induce a ground ball to end the end the game and snap the Yanks' 3-game losing streak. It was Soriano's 32nd save, Sabathia's 13th win, but most important Sabathia was able to give a strong effort with 7.1 innings and 9 strikeouts, plus his fastball reached 95mph on several occasions which wasn't happening consistently during June, July, and August.
In Sabathia's absence and during his struggles, Hiroki Kuroda took the mantle as the team's ace, but a first inning hiccup prevented the Yanks from making it two wins in a row. Kuroda was tagged for 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning thanks for a 3-run shot from Michael Brantley. Yankee scoring only came in the 6th with a RBI sac fly from Mark Teixeira off of Indians starter Justin Masterson. The bases were left loaded in the inning and the last out with a hard hit ball from Russell Martin that was flagged out on the warning track. The bags would be left loaded again in the 7th as Teixeira ended the inning with a weak pop-up as the Yankees offensive woes continue. Kuroda was able to get it together and went the full 8 innings, but the Bombers were never able to get to Masterson or the Indians bullpen. Chris Perez came on in the 9th to seal it for the Tribe and tie the series at a game a piece.
The final game was crucial for the Yankees in order to prevent the road trip from being a total-absolute-complete disaster after getting swept in Chicago and the possibility of losing two out of three to the awful Indians. It would be the soft-tossing Freddy Garcia versus the hard-throwing Ubaldo Jimenez and Jimenez was the first to blink by surrendering three runs in the top of the 2nd. An Ichiro RBI single, followed by a Jeter RBI groundout, and Nick Swisher RBI single gave Garcia a 3-0 lead. Just like the start in Chicago, Freddy rolled along early, but faced adversity soon enough. The Indians loaded the bases in the 3rd, but Garcia got out of the jam unscathed. Then in the 5th the Indians did it again with loading the bags, and were able to push across two runs from a Carlos Santana hit. Girardi took Garcia out in the 5th and elected for Boone Logan to get out of the inning. Curtis Granderson gave the Yankees a little cushion by adding a solo homer in the top of the 6th, and then the rest of the way Girardi mixed and matched his bullpen along in playoff fashion, including four outs from closer Rafael Soriano, to get out of Cleveland with the 4-2 win. Before the final out, a line drive hit Soriano in the right arm, but the cold-demeanored Soriano shook it off and was able to record the final out for his 33rd save of the season.
The 74-53 Yankees get out the clean pinstripes out of the drier and get set to pad up their lead again against AL East neighbors the Toronto Blue Jays and wildcard-seeking Baltimore Orioles....
That man again, Derek Jeter, started the game with a double and would come around to score soon after on a Nick Swisher RBI double to follow. Opposing starter Corey Kluber must have been unhappy with the Jeter double and the overall hot streak the Captain has been on, since the next at-bat he buzzed Jeter in the head and knocked off the helmet. Luckily Jeter wasn't hurt, but that forced CC Sabathia to send a little message of his own since he's never one to back down from a bean-ball conversation. Sabathia put his perfect start to the game in his back pocket and threw behind Indians shortstop (Jeter's position) Asdrubal Cabrera in the bottom of the 4th. Sabathia made the mistake of missing because on the next pitch Cabrera got the last laugh by hitting a solo homer to center to tie the game 1-1. After the drama Sabathia got back to pitching and put zeros up for the rest of his night. Nick Swisher broke the tie in the 7th with a much needed 2-run homer off of Cody Allen. Rafael Soriano entered the 9th with the 3-1 lead and made it interesting by loading the bases with two outs, but was able to induce a ground ball to end the end the game and snap the Yanks' 3-game losing streak. It was Soriano's 32nd save, Sabathia's 13th win, but most important Sabathia was able to give a strong effort with 7.1 innings and 9 strikeouts, plus his fastball reached 95mph on several occasions which wasn't happening consistently during June, July, and August.
In Sabathia's absence and during his struggles, Hiroki Kuroda took the mantle as the team's ace, but a first inning hiccup prevented the Yanks from making it two wins in a row. Kuroda was tagged for 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning thanks for a 3-run shot from Michael Brantley. Yankee scoring only came in the 6th with a RBI sac fly from Mark Teixeira off of Indians starter Justin Masterson. The bases were left loaded in the inning and the last out with a hard hit ball from Russell Martin that was flagged out on the warning track. The bags would be left loaded again in the 7th as Teixeira ended the inning with a weak pop-up as the Yankees offensive woes continue. Kuroda was able to get it together and went the full 8 innings, but the Bombers were never able to get to Masterson or the Indians bullpen. Chris Perez came on in the 9th to seal it for the Tribe and tie the series at a game a piece.
The final game was crucial for the Yankees in order to prevent the road trip from being a total-absolute-complete disaster after getting swept in Chicago and the possibility of losing two out of three to the awful Indians. It would be the soft-tossing Freddy Garcia versus the hard-throwing Ubaldo Jimenez and Jimenez was the first to blink by surrendering three runs in the top of the 2nd. An Ichiro RBI single, followed by a Jeter RBI groundout, and Nick Swisher RBI single gave Garcia a 3-0 lead. Just like the start in Chicago, Freddy rolled along early, but faced adversity soon enough. The Indians loaded the bases in the 3rd, but Garcia got out of the jam unscathed. Then in the 5th the Indians did it again with loading the bags, and were able to push across two runs from a Carlos Santana hit. Girardi took Garcia out in the 5th and elected for Boone Logan to get out of the inning. Curtis Granderson gave the Yankees a little cushion by adding a solo homer in the top of the 6th, and then the rest of the way Girardi mixed and matched his bullpen along in playoff fashion, including four outs from closer Rafael Soriano, to get out of Cleveland with the 4-2 win. Before the final out, a line drive hit Soriano in the right arm, but the cold-demeanored Soriano shook it off and was able to record the final out for his 33rd save of the season.
The 74-53 Yankees get out the clean pinstripes out of the drier and get set to pad up their lead again against AL East neighbors the Toronto Blue Jays and wildcard-seeking Baltimore Orioles....
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