Yankees fall to Indians in 16, AL East lead down to half-game
A lost weekend at home was followed by a long night on the road.
Right now, nothing is going the New York Yankees' way.
Michael Brantley ripped an RBI single off Mark Teixeira's glove with one out in the 16th inning to lift the Cleveland Indians to a 5-4 victory over the skidding Yankees, who lost their fourth in a row and had their lead in the AL East over Toronto trimmed to one-half game.
Brantley hit his hard shot off Branden Pinder (0-2) that first baseman Teixeira couldn't handle and easily scored Jose Ramirez from second base. Brantley's clutch hit ended the 5-hour, 4-minute game and triggered just the second walk-off winning celebration by the Indians this season.
Austin Adams (2-0) worked a perfect inning and combined with seven other Cleveland pitchers to record 16 strikeouts.
The first four hitters in New York's lineup — Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner, Alex Rodriguez and Teixeira — went a combined 1 for 25.
Stephen Drew and Carlos Beltran homered for the Yankees, who have hit a rough patch at the wrong time.
"It's baseball," said manager Joe Girardi, whose team was swept three straight by Toronto last weekend. "That's it. If you're ready to give up, give up. I'm not ready to give up."
New York, which led the second-place Blue Jays by seven games on July 28, went ahead 4-2 in the 10th on pinch-hitter Chase Headley's two-out, two-run single off Bryan Shaw. But for one of the first times all season, the Yankees' reliable bullpen couldn't protect the lead as Andrew Miller blew his first save in 25 tries this season.
That's how it's going for the Yankees. Nothing is clicking.
"It stinks," Miller said. "I put us in a terrible situation. I had a chance to close out the game, didn't do it. I'm frustrated. I feel bad I let us down with the game won. I screwed it up."
The Yankees came in with their bats sound asleep, and Indians starter Carlos Carrasco kept them that way.
The Bronx Bombers were shut out in consecutive games over the weekend by Toronto, and Carrasco blanked them for the first five innings, running New York's scoreless drought to 31 innings — the club's longest since 1991 — before Drew opened the sixth with his 14th homer.
It was the first run allowed by Carrasco in 22 innings, and the right-hander was six outs from his 12th win before Beltran turned on one of his fastballs in the eighth to tie it 2-2.
Despite his team's recent slide, Girardi feels the Yankees are battling.
"They fought for 16 innings," he said. "I don't feel that they're frustrated. I mean they are frustrated, but that's part of it. When you're not winning, you should be frustrated."
Girardi was aware the Blue Jays won their ninth straight to pull closer to the Yankees.
"We're going to fight," he said. "We didn't think it would be anything different than that. We're going through a little tough stretch, but we'll get it turned around."
Carrasco finished with a no-decision despite his third straight powerful outing. The right-hander has allowed only three runs and seven hits in his past 26 innings.
He outpitched Yankees rookie Luis Severino, who shook off a slow start in just his second major-league outing and gave up two runs and seven hits in six innings.
Carrasco got a spectacular defensive play from rookie third baseman Giovanny Urshela in the fourth.
Gardner hit a ball down the line that Urshela stopped with a backhand near the bag. In one motion, Urshela leaped and made a strong throw from foul territory across the diamond — a la Derek Jeter — to nip Gardner.
OVERWORKED PEN
Girardi had to use seven relievers, and may have to make a roster move to bring in a fresh arm.
"Every arm is exhausted down there," he said.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Yankees: RHP Michael Pineda (strained forearm) reported no problems after throwing in the bullpen before Monday's series opener. He's scheduled to throw 35 pitches Thursday, and as long as he's pain free, he will likely go on a minor-league rehab assignment.
UP NEXT
Yankees: LHP CC Sabathia has racked up more career wins (51), starts (121) and strikeouts (702) than any pitcher in Progressive Field history. He pitched for the Indians from 2001-08, winning the AL Cy Young Award in '07. Sabathia, 4-1 against Cleveland, is coming off a strong outing — three hits in six innings — in a no-decision versus Boston.
Indians: RHP Danny Salazar will make his first career start against the Yankees. He'll be pitching on six days' rest after a loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 5. He received a no-decision despite allowing one run in six innings.
