Player of the Game
Josh Tomlin was effective again on the mound tonight, in fact even better than his first start against Minnesota. He threw seven innings, allowing just two hits (one home run) and one walk while striking out six. His slower than average pitching style was a good match for the aggressive Yankees, although the old man Alex Rodriguez was able to connect with one for a home run deep into the left field stands.
Feathers Up
The Indians took advantage of some clutch, two out hitting to increase their lead in both the third and fourth innings. The first run came from the established duo of Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley, finally healthy and back in the lineup together. Kipnis singled for the second time in the game, moved to second on a Francisco Lindor out, then scored on the two out Brantley single. In the fourth, it was the bottom of the lineup who came through as Abraham Almonte walked with two outs, moved to third on a Giovanny Urshela single and scored on a base hit from Jose Ramirez.
Feathers Down
After Kipnis singled to lead off the game, Lindor attempted to bunt him to second, missed, then ultimately struck out. This has been a tendency of Lindor’s since his call-up and has severely dampened the Indians already lackluster offense. It is a complete failure of the coaching staff that he hasn’t yet learned the proper time and place to sacrifice bunt.
Yan Gomes continues to struggle, despite the home run yesterday. Today, he went 0/4 with two runners stranded in scoring position including one with two outs in the eighth. On the season, Gomes has been one of the Indians least dependable with runners in scoring position, batting just .159 in those situations. August has been his best month so far overall this year, but he has still hit just .228 with six extra base hits. In addition, the run scored against Cody Allen in the ninth was largely Gomes’ fault as he allowed Rodriguez to steal second without a throw, despite having plenty of time to catch him.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 3 – New York Yankees 2
On Deck: Carlos Carrasco and Masahiro Tanaka will face of in game two of the four game series in New York at 7:05 PM Friday night. The Indians didn’t face Tanaka last time around, but the Yankees did face Carrasco and he dominated them, holding them to a single run in nine innings with ten K’s.
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