Shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera #13 of the Cleveland Indians tags out Ichiro Suzuki #31 of the New York Yankees / (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Reporting Matt Loede
CLEVELAND (92.3 The Fan) – A night after Justin Masterson pitched one of his better games of the year, the Yankees got a little revenge Sunday against starter Ubaldo Jimenez.
Jimenez allowed three runs in just five innings of work, as New York topped the Indians 4-2 at Progressive Field Sunday afternoon.
The Indians offense was again held in check, garnering just a pair of runs when Carlos Santana hit a two-out, two-run single in the 5th off Yankees starter Freddy Garcia.
Garcia kept the Indians off balance all day with his off-speed stuff, throwing 4.2, allowing two runs on four hits with two walks and six K’s.
He didn’t get credit for the win, as Boone Logan came in and went 1.2 for the win to improve to 5-2 on the season. Logan struck out two batters in his time on the mound.
New York put up three against Jimenez (9-13) in the second inning. They sent seven batters to the plate in the inning, with Ichiro Suzuki, Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher all getting RBI’s for NY.
The inning started with a single by Eric Chavez, and a walk to Raul Ibanez. Suzuki singled to score Chavez to put the Yankees up 1-0.
Jeter hit a grounder to third that Jack Hannahan had to double clutch, not allowing him to go home with a shot to get Ibanez.
The run made it 2-0, and then it became 3-0 when Swisher singled to shallow left center, scoring Ichiro.
Since coming to the Indians last July, Jimenez is now 13-17 in 37 starts. In that time he has not thrown a complete game, and his ERA with the Indians since the deal is 5.34.
The Indians wasted a shot in the third against Garcia, as they loaded the bases with two outs on a double by Hannahan, Jason Kipnis reached on an error, and Shin-Soo Choo walked.
Carlos Santana worked the count, but hit an easy grounder to first that Mark Teixeira handled for the third out of the frame.
They scored their two in the fifth to draw it to a 3-2 game. With two outs, Kipnis doubled, Asdrubal Cabrera was hit by a pitch, and Choo drew a walk.
Santana came through this time, as he hit a single up the middle to score both Kipnis and Cabrera to make it a one-run New York lead.
They pushed it out to two in the 6th, as Curtis Granderson, who was 1-for-9 entering the at-bat in the series, crushed a Tony Sipp offering for his 33rd homer of the year.
The loss drops the Indians to 55-72, now 31-31 at home with 20 home games remaining in the season. The Yankees are now 74-53 as they make their push to the postseason.
The long homestand will continue Monday night as the Indians welcome the Oakland A’s into town for the first of a four-game set.
Roberto Hernandez (0-2, 6.75) will make his Progressive Field debut for the Indians against Brett Anderson (1-0, 1.29) ERA for Oakland.
