Yankees, Tanaka hang on for 3-2 win over Indians

Source: FanGraphs

Is it too late to join #TeamBuy? The Yankees took yet another series from the first place Indians this weekend, beating the Tribe 3-2 in Sunday afternoon’s series finale. They also won three of four in Cleveland prior to the All-Star break. It’s Sunday and I’ve been busy all day, so let’s go with bullet points:

• Bounceback Start: Last time out Masahiro Tanaka allowed a career-high seven runs in 6.1 innings. He rebounding with six strong innings Sunday, holding the Indians to one run on six hits and no walks while striking out a season-high eight. It would have been six scoreless had Joe Girardi not gone batter-to-batter with him in the seventh. (Tanaka allowed a first pitch double.) Nice work, Masahiro.
• One Run, Three Times: The Yankees scored a first inning run on Brett Gardner’s triple and Jacoby Ellsbury’s sac fly. They scored a fourth inning run on Didi Gregorius’ solo homer into the short porch. They then scored a fifth inning run thanks to a two-out walk (Ellsbury) and a double (Mark Teixeira). A deliberately built lead, that was. The final ten Yankees to bat made outs. I hate that.
• Some Runs … WCD? For the first time since coming back, Adam Warren had a shaky outing. He allowed Tanaka’s inherited runner to score on a single, then needed Teixeira to bail him out with a great stop on a ball hit hard down the line. That would have almost certainly tied the game had it gotten by Teixeira. Tyler Clippard and Dellin Betances conspired to allow a run in the eighth. A walk, a steal, an error, and a wild pitch did the trick. Betances then pitched around a leadoff single in the ninth for his second save.
• Leftovers: The Yankees only had five hits: Gardner (triple), Ellsbury (single), Teixeira (double), Gregorius (homer), and Rob Refsnyder (single) … Ellsbury and Brian McCann drew the walks … Refsnyder, Gregorius, and Austin Romine all made errors … the Yankees have alternated wins and losses since the trade deadline.

Here are the box score, video highlights, and updated standings. We also have Bullpen Workload and Announcer Standings pages. The Yankees have an off-day Monday, then they’ll head up to Boston for three games with the Red Sox. Luis Severino makes his return to the rotation in Tuesday night’s opener. He’ll be opposed by Rick Porcello.