New York Yankees 7 – Cleveland Indians 6 (11 innings)
After splitting the first two games, the Yankees needed extra innings to take the series lead.
After a scoreless first inning against Danny Salazar, the Cleveland Indians welcomed CC Sabathia with a run in the first inning. Rajai Davis got on base when he was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a sacrifice. He sneakily stole third on Sabathia and scored on a two-out infield single by Carlos Santana.
In the third inning, the Yankees got a leadoff double from Brett Gardner. After a ground out advanced Gardner to third, Carlos Beltran hit a single to tie the game, 1-1. One of the hottest bats on the team, Didi Gregorius made it a two-run lead when he came through with a two-out, two-run home run to right field, his 11th of the season.
Unfortunately, CC Sabathia was unable to produce a shut down inning after receiving the lead. In the bottom of the third inning, Sabathia walked Jason Kipnis with one out and a single by Fraincisco Lindor put runners on the corners. Mike Napoli brought the Indians within one with a single and Carlos Santana tied with a double that was poorly played by Aaron Hicks. Jose Ramirez put the Indians ahead with a single to right. The Indians added an insurance run in the fifth inning when Jose Ramirez came up with a run-scoring single.
Down by two, the Yankees recorded two quick ground outs in the sixth inning but a single by Chase Headley started a much bigger inning. Following the single, Rob Refsnyder reached when his base hit deflected off the glove of Salazar. Alex Rodriguez came in as a pinch-hitter and was walked to end Salazar’s day on the mound. Dan Otero came on to pitch to Brett Gardner and the Yankees left fielder hit a deep fly ball just fair in the left field corner. It bounced over the head of left fielder Jose Ramirez, allowing Gardner to clear the bases with a three-run triple to put the Yankees back ahead by one.
In 5 2/3 innings, CC Sabathia allowed five runs on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
Dellin Betances assisted Sabathia by getting the last out of the sixth inning but returned for the seventh inning. Jason Kipnis led off with a double and with two outs, scored on a single by Jose Ramirez, his third run-scoring single of the day and this one tied the game at 6-6.
After 1 1/3 scoreless from Betances, Andrew Miller added 1 2/3 scoreless innings with the assist of some poor baserunning by Francisco Lindor. The inning started with a single by Lindor. He advanced to second on a walk but ran into Chase Headley on a ground ball. The runner must give the fielder the path, therefore Lindor was retired at third base instead of standing 90 feet from being the winning run.
In the top of the 11th inning, reliever Tommy Hunter retired the first two batters before Carlos Beltran got on with a single. Beltran was replaced on the bases by pinch-runner Ronald Torreyes and this proved to be pivotal. Brian McCann hit a deep fly ball to right field that bounced off the wall and back over the head of Almonte, allowing Torreyes to score from first base and put the Yankees ahead.
After pitching a clean 10th inning, Aroldis Chapman returned for the 11th with the lead. After a leadoff walk of Kipnis, Lindor was retired for the first out. Kipnis was shockingly picked off for the second out and a strikeout of Mike Napoli shut down today’s extra inning win. In 2 1/3 innings, Aroldis Chapman walked one, allowed no hits and struck out four.
Win – Aroldis Chapman (3-0)
Loss – Tommy Hunter (2-2)
Notables
Yankees
*Brett Gardner – 2 for 5, R, BB, 3B, 3 RBI (20)
*Didi Gregorius – 1 for 5, R, BB, Two-run home run (11) in the 3rd, 2 RBI (41)
Indians
*Jose Ramirez – 3 for 5, 3 RBI (37)
*Carlos Santana – 2 for 5, 2 RBI (49)
Current Yankees Record: 43-44
