First Inning
Trevor Bauer gets the ball for game one of the series in a very noisy Progressive Field. Brett Gardner hits a soft pop out to Francisco Lindor for the first out. Aaron Judge strikes out looking on a nasty pitch by Bauer for Gary Sanchez with the bases empty. He goes out swinging for back to back Ks for the Tribe as the Yankees are out in relatively quick fashion.
The bottom half begins with Frankie Lindor who has been quite an offensive threat in recent weeks for the Indians. Sonny Gray toes the rubber for New York who has had a shaky campaign since being acquired at the trade deadline. Lindor draws a leadoff walk for Jason Kipnis batting second in the order. He grounds into a force out to first base getting Frankie out at second for the hot hitting Jose Ramirez with MVP chants ring from the home fans throughout the stadium. Another ground ball to first baseman Greg Bird gets the second out but advances the runner into scoring position for Edwin Encarnacion. Sanchez has been a defensive liability behind the dish with the amount of passed balls he has allowed throughout the season and it has typically cost the Yankees runs in more than one instance. A broken bat grounder is the final out as Kip is left stranded ninety feet away from home plate meaning a clean first inning for both clubs.
Second Inning
Back to back ground ball outs by Didi Gregorius and Starlin Castro and there is already two quick outs on just four pitches with Greg Bird stepping into the batters box. He takes a four pitch walk giving the Yankees their first baserunner of the evening for Todd Frazier climbing into the box. He falls behind rather quick with no balls and two strikes the count, and goes down swinging on a fastball on the outside corner and the half inning is over. Three strikeouts for Bauer early in the game.
Jay Bruce hits a low sinker away off the wall for a leadoff double as the Tribe look to crack the scoreboard. Carlos Santana rips a base hit to center field, despite being down in the count with runners on the corners and nobody out for Lonnie Chisenhall. He gets plunked on a cutter inside juicing the bases for catcher Roberto Perez still with no outs on the board. A huge double play is turned , but a run still scores as Cleveland breaks the tie and a 1-0 lead. Giovanny Urshela flies out to Aaron Judge and the Yankees escape what could have been a much more dangerous situation still trailing though.
Third Inning
Chase Headley thought he hit a ball into the gap between left and center but Jason Kipnis begged to differ laying out to make a terrific diving catch. With that display of defensive excellence, one may think that he was a natural born center fielder but that is not the case. He began the year as a second baseman but Tito Francona decided to try him in the outfield position in which he has excelled as of late. Gardner ground out to short and another great backstop by Lindor ends the frame for the away team. Trevor has yet to allow a hit through three innings of play here.
Frankie strikes out for Sonny Gray’s first K of the night still clinging to the lead in what has been a battle of the defenses so far in this game. Kipnis flies out to Judge and for the first time tonight the Tribe have two outs in order without a baserunner. JRam goes down looking and Gray gets two punch outs in the home half of the inning.
Fourth Inning
Aaron Judge strikes out for the second time this evening, on an ugly swing but the wild pitch by Bauer allows him to get to first base for the Yankee catcher with no men out. The Tribe defense turn a quick double play and the Yankees are still without a runner in scoring position and looking for their first hit of the game as well. Bauer records his sixth strikeout through four innings as Didi looks at strike three for the third out and he has been terrific in shutting down the Yanks offense so far.
Encarnacion gets issued a walk to begin the bottom half of the fourth inning. This is the third time the Indians have gotten a leadoff man on base in the game. Bruce continues his hot streak by hitting a towering shot to right field and Judge can only watch as he gives the Tribe some insurance runs and the score is now 3-0. Slamtana walks as Gray is starting to struggle against this lineup having thrown sixty two pitches in just four innings of play, Lonnie hits a pop fly on the infield fly rule and there is only one out here in the home frame. Another walk for the Indians thereby ending the night for New York’s starter in another rocky outing for Sonny. Adam Warren comes on in relief trying to limit the damage at just three runs. However, that will not be the case as Urshela pokes a single up the middle loading the bases for the second time tonight. Frankie swings and misses on a pitch in the dirt, and the Yankees are one out away from escaping major trouble yet again. Kip flies out to deep center and the side is retired.
Fifth Inning
Starlin Castro flies out on just two pitches, as the no hitter remains intact and this is one of the best starts that Trevor Bauer has had all year long not allowing any hits and only one walk. Bird is retired on a fly out in foul territory and two more quick outs. The Toddfather records the final out of the inning as the Tribe are just cruising along in the contest with the no no still in play.
Ramirez hits a leadoff knock to center and the Indians have their fifth hit of the ballgame , with EE coming up to the batters box. Jaime Garcia replaces Warren with a runner on second with an out as Edwin pops out to left in foul ground. JB continues to torment the pitching staff tonight and hits a sac fly to extend the lead 4-0 padding the lead for the Indians in what could be a shutout victory if Bauer continues to dominate the Yankee batters. Santana flies out sharply to end the inning leading by four runs.
Sixth Inning
Headley strikes out looking for the first out of the inning as the game is starting to limit the chances the Yankees have of doing anything offensively. Aaron Hicks breaks up the no hitter with a double on a line drive to left field , with the top of the lineup due up here. Gardy weakly dribbles a ground ball to first, as Bauer just beats him to the bag moving Hicks to third and Judge looks to avoid his third K of the game. But he manages to get the called strike three on a pitch that looked slightly inside, but gets the call and Judge continues to strike out at an alarming rate, especially stemming back to when the second half of the regular season got underway.
Austin Jackson pinch hits for Chisenhall, but strikes our swinging as this game appears to be all but over with the pitching dominance shown by Mr. Bauer so far. Perez draws another walk, as the Tribe look to score some more runs. Garcia gets Urshela to strike out but the fourth wild pitch for the Yankees pitchers move Perez into scoring position. Lindor gets intentionally walked but a fly out by Kipnis again ends the threat for the Indians still up by four.
Seventh Inning
Gary Sanchez struggles mightily against Trevor Bauer and it continues here tonight. He grounds out weakly, and Gregorius pops out to shallow infield on just two pitches. That will also mark the end of his outing having thrown ninety seven pitches with a runner on first due to Castro’s single. Andrew Miller is called upon in relief, with two outs preserving the shutout for the Tribe. He completely fools Bird for a third strike at the stretch, as the Yankee offense have been ice cold in the game with only two hits overall.
JRam flies out sharply to center field as does Encarnacion to left for two outs via long ball and Garcia stays in the game. Jay Bruce Ks and that is the first time he has been retired in this ballgame in another clean inning by the Yanks bullpen.
Eighth Inning
Consecutive walks given up by Miller to both Gardner and Headley give New York some sign of life in the late innings as Judge steps up hoping not to strike out yet again. Cody Allen is called in to face #99 as New York looks to avoid the shutout and score in any way they can which seems highly unlikely at this rate. Judge has been fooled all four times on pitches out of the strike zone and the Indians relievers look to capitalize on those mistakes as the home half of the inning is set to begin. Also, with Corey Kluber on the mound tomorrow it will not be any easier for him or any other Yankee batter in that case.
Dellin Betances is in for the bottom half of the frame and strikes out the side as we head to the top of the ninth with the Indians still winning 4-0 as the Yankees are three outs away from being shutout.
Ninth Inning
Greg Allen replaces Kipnis in center field with Gary Sanchez hoping to lead the comeback for the Yankees. Sanchez hits a comebacker to the pitcher Cody Allen and there is already one gone with two outs remaining, keeping the zero on the scoreboard. Gregorius strikes out on a check swing which has been quite the problem for them tonight with Starlin behind in the count 1-2 as well. He shoots a base hit to right keeping the inning alive for the rookie Greg Bird. He ends up swinging on another ball in the dirt and the ballgame is indeed over.
Player of the Game – : Jay Bruce- 2-3 HR, 2B, 3 RBI.
JB was responsible for all four of the Tribe run, driving in three and crossing home plate once by himself on a groundout. Trevor Bauer is in the conversation as well because of how dominant he was especially not giving up any runs and eight strikeouts on just two hits in 6.2 innings pitched.
Final Score: New York Yankees – 0 Cleveland Indians- 4
On Deck: ALDS Game 2 – at 5:00 PM on TBS
Corey Kluber (18-4 2.25 ERA) looks to give the Indians a 2-0 series lead before shifting to New York against C.C. Sabathia (14-5 3.69 ERA) who has had a surprising year this season and plans to pitch for at least one more year next season as well.
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