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Yankees game 88: Early offense leads to a pair of pitching firsts

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New York Yankees 5 — Cleveland Indians 3

The Yankees scored early in support of a rookie and an All-Star rookie closed it out.

After a scoreless first by Indians’ Justin Masterson, the second inning would go downhill and snowball. Brian McCann would start the inning with a double and Brian Roberts would double too, scoring McCann. After some messy baserunning stranded Roberts on third base, Kelly Johnson would walk and Francisco Cervelli would take a pitch off of his thigh as Masterson’s control escaped him. Brett Gardner would hit a single to bring home the second run and keep the bases loaded. Derek Jeter would walk on four straight pitches and the Indians would be down by three.

The first two batters to start the third inning, Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann, would walk and single respectively. This would be the end of Masterson’s difficult night. With one out against reliever Kyle Crockett, Ichiro Suzuki would hit a soft infield single that could not be fielded and he scored the Yankees’ fourth run of the game. A balk and Kelly Johnson wearing a pitch, the bases would be loaded for the second time in as many innings. Francisco Cervelli would bring home the fifth run of the game on a force at second.

The recipient of the run support is rookie Shane Greene.

After hitting Asdrubal Cabrera in the first inning, who would be caught stealing, Greene would cruise. Through the first four innings, the Indians had no hits and Greene faced the minimum. After getting two outs in the fifth inning, Greene fell behind Nick Swisher and the former Yankee ruined the no-hit bid and the shutout with one swing. The solo home run by Swisher ended a streak of 11 straight but Greene would bounce back with his second strikeout of the night.

Shane Greene would allow one more run in the sixth inning but he put together a great spot start. In six innings, Shane Greene allowed two runs on four hits while striking out two and walking none.

David Huff would come in after Greene and pitched a scoreless seventh inning. He started the eighth inning but he surrendered a solo home run to Yan Gomes. With a two-run lead, Dellin Betances would get the call. The 2014 All-Star would have a runner reach on a one-out error but generated a double play to finish the inning.

Betances would get the ninth inning as he attempted to get his first career save. After a lead off single, Betances would get a strike out before a pair of fly outs ended the game.

Congratulations to Shane Greene on his first career win and Dellin Betances on his first career save.

 

Win – Shane Greene (1-0)

Loss – Justin Masterson (4-6)

Save – Dellin Betances (1)

 

Notables

Yankees

*Brian Roberts – 2 for 4, R, 2B, RBI (19)

*Ichiro Suzuki – 3 for 4, RBI (11)

Indians

*Nick Swisher – 1 for 4, R, Solo Home Run (6) in the 5th, RBI (30)

*Yan Gomes – 1 for 3, R, Solo Home Run (11) in the 8th, RBI (33)

 

Current Yankees Record: 45-43