Cleveland Indians 7 – New York Yankees 13
The Yankees welcome the hot Cleveland Indians into town for a three-game series.
In the first inning, Jason Kipnis reached with a one-out single against Michael Pineda but was thrown out at second base by Gary Sanchez in his first career start at catcher. The Yankees rookie catcher showed off again when he got his second caught base runner in a strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play in the second inning.
The Yankees manufactured the first run of the game in the first inning when Jacoby Ellsbury and Mark Teixeira got into scoring position and Brian McCann grounded out to bring home Ellsbury.
In the third inning, Jacoby Ellsbury got on base with a one-out double and Mark Teixeira got on with a single. Brian McCann brought home Ellsbury with a double and an intentional walk of Chase Headley loaded the bases. The walk proved extremely costly when Starlin Castro went the other way to right field for his first career grand slam.
The five-run third inning but the Yankees ahead by six.
Michael Pineda cruised through the first four innings as he allowed three base runners but two were thrown out on the bases. In the fifth inning, Pineda gave up a lead off single to Jose Ramirez but got the next two outs. In a familiar difficult spot, Pineda struggled to get the third out of the inning. With two outs, Abraham Almonte got on base with a double and Chris Gimenez dealt the big blow, a three-run home run to left field that cut the Yankees lead in half, 6-3.
The Yankees got another run back when Gary Sanchez hit a double to right center to plate his first career run at the major league level.
Indians reliever Shawn Morimando came in for the sixth inning and got the first two outs before command eluded him. Morimando walked Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann before Chase Headley brought home Teixeira with a single. He continued the inning by walking Starlin Castro to load the bases and Gary Sanchez to bring home a run. The Yankees made it a 9-3 game.
Michael Pineda exited in the seventh inning when Jose Ramirez led off with a double. With Richard Bleier on the mound, Ramirez came around to score their fourth run of the game. Tyler Clippard finished off the inning as Pineda’s line for the night was finished.
In six innings, Michael Pineda allowed four runs on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts.
The Yankees added another two runs in the seventh inning when Aaron Hicks hit a solo home run and Jacoby Ellsbury hit a run-scoring single after Brett Gardner reached with a triple. The bullpen struggled in the eighth inning as Johnny Barbato made his return to the majors. After a lead off walk to Jason Kipnis, Francisco Lindor hit a single and Mike Napoli brought home a run with a single. Another single by Jose Ramirez called for Adam Warren into the game. Pinch-hitter Brandon Guyer hit a run-scoring single. With one out, Abraham Almonte hit a sacrifice fly and the Indians made it 11-7.
Brett Gardner came up with the bases loaded in the eighth inning and hit a two-run single to give the Yankees 13 runs on the night. Nick Goody walked two in the ninth inning but got the three outs needed to wrap up this long, high-scoring game. Five Yankees starters had multi-hit games.
Win – Michael Pineda (6-10)
Loss – Josh Tomlin (11-4)
Notables
Indians
*Chris Gimenez – 1 for 3, R, Three-run home run (3) in the 5th, 3 RBI (9)
*Abraham Almonte – 2 for 3, R, 2B, RBI (5)
Yankees
*Starlin Castro – 2 for 3, 3 R, 2 BB, Grand slam (12) in the 3rd, 4 RBI (46)
*Jacoby Ellsbury – 4 for 5, 2 R, 2B, RBI (33)
*Brett Gardner – 2 for 6, R, 3B, 2 RBI (29)
Current Yankees Record: 55-54
