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8/08/2014 11:26:00 PM
Gavin Ewbank
Esmil Rogers, everybody.
Making a spot-start in the place of David Phelps, who was place on the disabled list earlier in the week, Rogers made his first start since 2013 a good one, pitching five innings of one-run ball and giving up just four hits, as the Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 10-6, on Friday night in the Bronx.
Carlos Beltran, who has been hitting the ball very well since early July, had a big night, picking up two hits, including a grand slam that opened the game up in the 6th inning.
Rogers' night didn't get off to the best of starts giving up a quick run in the 1st inning. Jason Kipnis opened up the game with a double into left field, and then scored a couple of batters later one a two-out single by Carlos Santana.
He was much better during the next few innings, retiring the side in order in the 2nd and 4th innings. His worst inning after the 1st was the 3rd, when he gave up a leadoff single to Roberto Perez, and later walked Michael Brantley. He worked his way through five innings, giving up the one run on four hits, walking one and striking out three while throwing 88 pitches.
I mean, it was really hard to see this coming from Rogers. Gotta give the credit to Brian Cashman for picking this guy up off of waivers. In most cases, you could assume that the Yankees would give Rogers another start, but with Michael Pineda very close to returning, it seems unlikely.
After falling behind by a run in the top of the the 1st inning, the Yankees jumped all over Indians starter Trevor Bauer, who had trouble throwing strikes, and didn't get much help from his defense.
Bauer struck out Brett Gardner to open the frame, and then it all went downhill from there. Derek Jeter reached on an infield single when Jose Ramirez mishandled the ball at shortstop. Jacoby Ellsbury worked a walk, and then Carlos Beltran put the Yankees on the board with an RBI single to right field. After Brian McCann walked to load the bases, Bauer issued his third walk of the inning to Chase Headley, forcing in a run. Stephen Drew followed up with an RBI single, and then Martin Prado made it a 5-1 game on another infield single due to more bad defense by the Indians.
Bauer was finished after giving up a leadoff double to Gardner in the 4th and then walking Ellsbury a couple of batters later. Having pitched seven innings of two-run ball against the Yankees in July, Bauer only last 3.1 inning, giving up five runs on six hits, walking four.
The Yankees broke the game open with another five-run inning in the 6th. John Axford walked Ichiro Suzuki and Gardner to open the inning, then after Jeter sacrificed both runners over, Ellsbury was intentionally walked to load the bases ahead of Beltran, who smacked a hanging curveball into the right field seats for the 11th grand slam of his career, extending the Yankees' lead to 9-1.Francisco Cervelli hit a pinch-hit double after the Beltran homer, then scored a couple of batters later on a Drew groundout for the 10th run.
The Yankees eventually announced that McCann left the game with a mild concussion after taking a foul tip off of his face mask earlier in the game. He'll be tested again in the morning and then the Yankees will make a decision on whether or not to DL him.
David Huff took over on the mound to start the 6th inning, giving back a run to Cleveland after three of the first four hitters collected base knocks off of him, including Daniel Murphy, who hit an RBI single into left field that scored Brantley, who doubled to open the inning. Shawn Kelley eventually came in for the final out of the inning.
Cleveland tightened the gap with four runs in the 7th inning against Kelley and Adam Warren. Perez singled, Kipnis walked, and Mike Aviles singled to load the bases with nobody out ahead of Brantley, who walked to force in a run. That brought in Warren, who immediately gave up a two-run double to Santana. And then Murphy hit a sac-fly that made it a 10-6.
Warren walked Ramirez to open the 8th before striking out Perez. Rich Hill then came on for his second outing with the Yankees, getting Kipnis to ground into a double play to end the inning.
Dellin Betances took for mound for the 9th inning, recording the first two outs, including a strikeout of Aviles, before giving up back-to-back singles, which led to him striking out Nick Swisher to end the game, giving the Yankees their fifth win in their last six contests.
The Yankees and Indians will continue this three game series on Saturday afternoon with Brandon McCarthy on the mound for the Bombers, taking on Corey Kluber at 1:05 p.m. ET.
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