Tribe can’t match Yankees’ power
Yankees 6, Indians 5
NEW YORK — The Cleveland Indians hit singles, the New York Yankees hit home runs. On Saturday, the formula did not favor the Indians. Especially when a couple of errors were added to the mix.
The Yankees hit four homers, including two by Gleybar Torres, to beat the Indians 6-5 at Yankee Stadium. The Indians have lost four of their last five games.
The Indians took a 2-0 lead in the first on Carlos Santana’s two-run single off left-hander John Paxton. Francisco Lindor and Oscar Mercado set the table with a walk and a double, repectively. When Yasiel Puig followed Santana with a walk, it looked like the Indians were mounting another big first inning like they had Thursday when they scored seven runs on the way to a 19-5 win.
But Paxton (9-6) retired the next three batters.
“I thought we did a really good job against Paxton,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “He’s got really good stuff. As everybody they brought in did. But we scored, we fought back, which is a hard thing to do. We got it to even and gave up a solo homer right away.”
Mercado was back in the lineup after a twoday rest and made two errors in left field.
In the second inning, Mercado bobbled Mike Tauchman’s run-andhit single that allowed Cameron Maybin to score from first.
The Yankees tied the score at 2 in the third with help from another Mercado error. DJ Lemahieu sent a twoout single to left with Thario Estrada on second. Estrada scored as Lemahieu went to second on Mercado’s off-line throw home.
The Yankees took a 4-2 lead on consecutive homers by Didi Gregorius and Torres in the fourth. Rookie right-hander Zach Plesac retired the next three batters, but he wasn’t long for the game.
Santana and Puig countered the two homers with consecutive RBI singles in the fifth off Paxton to tie it at 4. Santana singled home Lindor, who reached on a two-out double. Puig delivered Mercado, who reached on a walk.
The Yankees answered with two more homers to take a 6-4 lead. Lemahieu ended Plesac’s day with a two-out homer in the fifth. Plesac (6-4) allowed five runs, four earned, in 4 innings.
Torres homered off Nick Wittgren in the sixth.
The Indians made it 6-5 with in the eighth. Puig doubled, took third on Jose Ramirez’s single and scored on a wild pitch by Zach Britton.