Yanks Falter In Cleveland

For the first time in 8 series, the Yanks lost a set of 3.  The Indians took two of three from New York in Cleveland earlier this week with consistent pitching and a lack of timely hitting from the Yanks.  Derek Jeter inched closer to hit number 3,000 but that milestone would have to wait until Saturday.

@ Indians (Monday, July 4; Burnett vs. Tomlin)  Indians Win 6-3

Offense:  C  The Yanks were no hit for 6+ innings by Tomlin who improved to 10-4 (3.78).  New York could only muster 4 hits all night and 1 walk.  Granderson had a 2 run HR and Swisher continued his recent surge with 2 RBI.

Starting Pitching:  B  Burnett gave the Yanks length and went frame-for-frame with Tomlin before unraveling in the 7th after a series of miscues by the Yanks including a mis judged pop-up that would have ended the inning.  4 runs later, Burnett was on the losing side of the score, dropping to 8-7.  He still continues to pitch better than last year though.

Bullpen:   D  Wade didn't help matters, giving up 2 runs in the 8th inning and shutting the door on the Yanks' chances.

@ Indians (Tuesday, July 5; Sabathia vs. Carrasco)  Yankees Win 9-2

Offense:  A+  17 hits, 3 walks, 4-13 w/RISP, one HR by Grandy, and RBI from 6 players made it a successful offensive evening.  Jeter climbed closer to 3,000 with 2 hits and 2 RBI.

Starting Pitching:  A  CC was superb again (despite an All Star snub) lasting 7 innings and striking out 11 while allowing no runs and just 5 hits.

Bullpen:  C-  Lance Pendleton allowed 2 runs in 2 innings of work but it was empty relief due to the Yanks 9-0 lead when he entered.

@ Indians (Wednesday, July 6; Hughes vs. Masterson)  Indians Win 5-3

Offense:  D+  It was a dull day for the New York offense which could not get anything going against starting pitching Justin Masterson who was masterful through 8 innings, yielding just 3 hits and 2 walks.  New York was able to scratch three runs off of Cleveland relief in the 9th inning but couldn't complete the comeback.  The 2 runs allowed by Sergio Mitre in the 8th inning clearly loomed very large.

Starting Pitching:  C+  Phil Hughes made a successful comeback from the DL, throwing 87 pitches in 5 innings.  He did allow two runs in the first inning but seemed to settle into a rhythm moving forward.  A good start for Phil who, if nothing else, dropped his ERA to 10.57.  The single digits still elude him however.

Bullpen:  D+  Not much good can be said about the bullpen on this night as Ayala, Logan, and Mitre combined to toss 3 innings of 3 run baseball.  Sergio Mitre had his usual struggles and allowed two key runs in the 8th inning to make the score 5-0.  The Yanks scored 3 runs in the 9th and would have had a tie game if it wasn't for Mitre's poor showing.