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Series Recap
·8 min read

Series Recap: Yankees settle for split against Indians

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It was a rough week and a series of missed opportunities for the New York Yankees and manager Aaron Boone. Although the club did garner a split with the Cleveland Indians, it felt like there was at least a game left on the table. In any event, the Bronx Bombers will look to rest, regroup, recharge and get healthier at the All-Star break.

GAME 1

A funny thing happened on the way to a pitcher’s duel between Luis Severino and Corey Kluber. A home run derby broke out in Cleveland, as the Yankees toppled the Tribe 7-4.

SEV STARTLED

Perhaps we don’t give Gary Sanchez enough credit for his rapport with Severino. Francisco Lindor got the Indians started with a booming double in the first. A couple of batters later, Jose Ramirez drove in Lindor from third with a single to right, providing Cleveland with a 1-0 lead. After Ramirez was caught stealing, ensuing batter Edwin Encarnacion drilled a slider to left-center, for a home run, doubling the advantage to 2-0.

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Severino would get touched up in the third on an RBI-single by Yonder Alonso and in the fourth on a home run from Ramirez.

The New York All-Star ace allowed four runs on nine hits and one walk in five frames, only striking out one.

GARDY PARTY

Brett Gardner revels in these types of games and he found his power stroke. With the Yankees trailing 2-0 in the third, Gardner smoked a two-run tater to right, off a 2-2 cutter from Kluber to tie the game.

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Garder would also cap off the New York scoring with a solo laser off the foul pole in right in the ninth.

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DIJA KLU ALL OVER AGAIN

Didi Gregorius harkened back to his 2017 ALDS Game 5 heroics in the fourth, tying the game at three with a solo homer off a 1-1 cutter from Kluber.

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Later in the frame, Greg Bird missed a three-run home run by a foot, plating Giancarlo Stanton with a double to right, putting the Yankees ahead at 4-3.

WINNING THE BATTLE OF ATTRITION

Where the Yankees bullpen fired four scoreless frames without yielding a hit, the Indians were afraid to call on any of their relievers. As a result, Kluber would throw 114 pitches. New York would finally wear him out in the eighth.

Gregorius set the table with a leadoff walk. With one out, Aaron Hicks smashed an RBI-double off the wall in center, giving the Yankees a 5-4 lead. With Oliver Perez on, Hicks stole third and Bird plated him with a sacrifice fly to left.

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AIR WADE

Entering the game as a defensive replacement in the eighth, Tyler Wade made an incredible full flight grab at second, robbing Alonso of a base hit.

GAME 2

Despite an early hole, the Yankees gained some traction and nearly completed the comeback. Yet, one could argue they might’ve played themselves out of a potential victory before falling 6-5.

DOMING-UH-OH

It was quite the setback start for Domingo German. A couple of walks and a wild pitch helped Cleveland plate its first run in the first inning on a Ramirez ground out to first base. In the second, an RBI-double by Yan Gomes to center and a two-run double by Michael Brantley to right, increased the Indians lead to 4-0 in the second. Even after the offense rallied back for three in the fifth, German couldn’t hold it there. A Ramirez RBI-triple ended German’s night in the bottom of the fifth. With Jonathan Holder on, an RBI-single to right by Alonso, doubled the Cleveland advantage to 6-3.

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RUNNING OUT OF A RALLY

Battling back again in the eighth, Wade sliced a leadoff double against Shane Bieber. With Perez on, a passed ball enabled Wade to advance to third and a groundout to short on a dazzling play by Lindor, allowed Wade to score. After Aaron Judge reached on a hit by pitch, by Neil Ramirez, the Indians escaped with a strike ’em out, throw ’em out, double play involving Hicks and Judge, with Stanton waiting on deck.

Of course in the ninth, Stanton drilled a leadoff homer off Cody Allen to straightaway center on a 1-2 fastball.

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JUST A LITTLE IMPATIENCE

After Bird singled to right and was lifted for pinch-runner Clint Frazier, it looked like the Yankees had Allen on the ropes. Yet, Miguel Andujar swung at the first pitch and banged into a double play. Following a five-pitch walk by Walker, Gregorius swung at a first-pitch fastball from Allen and popped out to short to end the game.

GAME 3

This time around it was the Yankees jumping out to an early lead. While both teams made some defensive mishaps, the Yankees bullpen proved to be the difference in a 4-3 victory.

HIP HIP DI DI

It didn’t take the lineup long to touch up Mike Clevinger. Gardner set the table with a leadoff walk and Judge followed with a single to left. Gregorius, the ensuing batter, crushed a 1-0 changeup to center, staking the Bronx Bombers to a 3-0 advantage.

CC DESERVED BETTER

CC Sabathia played the role of stopper once again and aside from allowing a first-inning solo home run to Ramirez, was mostly in control. After an RBI-groundout in the third by Michael Brantley cut the lead to 3-2, things got sticky in the sixth.

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With the Yankees ahead 4-2, Brantley singled to shallow right, off the glove of Wade. After Ramirez coaxed a walk, Encarnacion grounded out on a dazzling play by Miguel Andujar at third, as both runners moved up. Yet on the next play, Andujar made a nice stab on a ball hit by Brandon Guyer but threw it wide, pulling Bird off the bag (although it was scored a hit) and allowing Brantley to score, then a hustling Ramirez scored to tie it on a high throw to the plate by Bird.

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BOONIE FIRED UP

During the top half of the sixth, manager Aaron Boone got run from the game for arguing a strikeout of Stanton. Stanton argued and Boone argued the ball was fouled off and didn’t hit Stanton. Hence, Boone got his money’s worth and displayed some fire.

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“TOO MANY LITTLE LEAGUE HOMERS”

The Yankees offense received home runs of the conventional and unconventional kind.

Bird kept his hot hammering going with a solo bomb to right in the sixth, doubling the New York lead to 4-2.

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Then after the aforementioned Yankees defensive debacle, the Indians delivered their own miscue in the seventh. Austin Romine charged a double to right but an error by Guyer allowed him to go to third and a throw by second baseman Erik Gonzalez went into the dugout and enabled him to score.

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BULLPEN ON LOCKDOWN

Once again the Yankees bullpen was up to the challenge of shutting down the Tribe. David Robertson, Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman combined on 3.1 scoreless frames of no-hit ball, fanning six.

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GAME 4

The Yankees had Trevor Bauer on the ropes but couldn’t deliver the knockout blow early. It was an odd way to end out the first half, especially with the bullpen faltering for the first time all series in a 5-2 loss.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

No offense but when Walker essentially accounts for your offense, you’re in for a long afternoon. New York loaded the bases in the first but came away empty-handed. With two on and two out in the third, Hicks delivered an RBI-single to right. Hicks would also hit one on the screws in the fifth but a nice snag by Alonso at first squashed the threat.

In the fourth, Walker clocked a solo shot to right, doubling the Yanks lead to 2-0.

MASA’S MIXED BAG

Masahiro Tanaka looked better than his outing in Baltimore. In fact, Tanaka looked like he did during his postseason start against Cleveland. Cruising through three, Tanaka yielded his requisite home run, a two-run, game-tying blast to left by Encarnacion in the fourth.

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It was the only real blip on a ledger which included 6.1 frames of six-hit, one-walk ball, with five K’s. Yet, it proved crucial on a day where the offense was spending a day at the lake.

GANGED UP ON GREEN

I’m still not sure why Chad Green was hung out to dry with a fully stocked bullpen and the All-Star break looming on the horizon. Speaking of which, I know it was a day game after a night game but why wasn’t Romine in behind the plate either? Ah but I digress. Granted the Yankees flawless pen was due for a hiccup but Green was getting tagged pretty hard.

In the eighth, Brantley blasted a 0-1 fastball to right for the go-ahead home run. Cleveland would tack on two more with a Gomes sacrifice fly to right and a wild pitch which allowed Gonzalez to score.

ON DECK

At 62-33, the Yankees head into the All-Star break and then return home to Yankee Stadium for a three-game Subway Series against the New York Mets.

Pitching probables, Noah Syndergaard vs. Domingo German, Steven Matz vs. Sonny Gray, Jacob deGrom vs. Masahiro Tanaka.