Trevor Bauer has been one of baseball's best pitchers since last season's All-Star break, posting the fifth-lowest ERA in that span. Bauer has had his name in the news throughout the season with different headlines that he has created. Sonny Gray was coming off a good start against Houston, throwing six innings and giving up only two runs. The two teams were coming off a walk-off the night before and playing a day game by Yankees' rookie Miguel Andujar. Today was the second game of their three-game set against one another.
Game Recap
The game was scoreless for the first four innings as both Trevor Bauer and Sonny Gray were throwing well.
In the top of the fifth inning with two outs already in the inning, Francisco Lindor hit a 3-2 pitch into the right-field bleachers for his eighth home run of the season to give the Indians a 1-0 lead.
Bauer was pitching beautifully all afternoon, throwing four perfect innings until he walked Neil Walker to lead off the fifth inning. The Yankees also recorded their first hit of the afternoon when Gleyber Torres hit a single to center field to load the bases with one out in the fifth. Backup catcher Austin Romine worked the third walk of the inning off of Bauer to force in Walker to tie the game at one. Ronald Torreyes hits a routine double play grounder to Lindor but he bobbles it. Lindor attempts to get the forceout at third but the throw gets passed Jose Ramirez and allowed Torres to score to make it 3-1 Yankees.
The struggling Brett Gardner hits a sacrifice fly to left field which allowed Romine to score to make it 4-1.
Jose Ramirez led off the top of the sixth inning with a double and advanced to third on a groundout. Edwin Encarnacion hit a groundball to first baseman Neil Walker, who elected to get the out at first and allowed Ramirez to score to make it a 4-2 ballgame.
Chad Green came in the seventh inning to relieve Sonny Gray for the Yankees. Gray finished the day with six innings, two runs on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts on 93 pitches. Green threw two perfect innings for the Yankees with four punchouts.
Ben Taylor came in the bottom of the seventh in relief of Trevor Bauer, who finished with six innings, four runs (two earned) on two hits with three walks and eight strikeouts on 102 pitches.
Center fielder Bradley Zimmer gets taken out of the game after colliding into the right-center field wall on Austin Romine's double. Zimmer was replaced by Brandon Guyer in the outfield. Brett Gardner hits a single to left field that allowed Romine to score and Gardner advanced to second on a throw to make it 5-2 Yankees. Taylor threw two innings as well with one run on two hits and three strikeouts.
The Yankees decided against running out closer Aroldis Chapman, who pitched in four games in the past six days and instead turned to David Robertson to close out the ninth. Robertson gave up a double to Encarnacion but is stranded as the Yankees pick up the 5-2 victory over the Indians.
Tough fourth inning for the Tribe
Trevor Bauer was dominating throughout the first four innings against the Yankees. He was dealing with getting the first thirteen batters he faced all out. The fifth inning for Bauer consisted of three walks, a single, and a sacrifice fly to have four runs cross the plate in the inning. Bauer was dealing, throwing 42 pitches throughout the inning to shorten his outing by a few innings. Entering the fifth inning, Bauer had thrown just 44 pitches in four innings of work. Sometimes a rally doesn't need much from a hitting standpoint. He finished with 102 pitches over six innings of work. Cleveland has committed 18 errors now on the season as a team, which slaps them in the middle of the MLB in fielding.
Tomorrow's matchup
Tomorrow marks the end of the series and the end of the 18-day, 18-game stretch for the Yankees. The Yankees are now 14-1 in the past 15 games for the first time since 1998. The afternoon game will see Mike Clevinger get the ball for the Indians as the Yankees counter with Domingo German, who is replacing Jordan Montgomery in the rotation due to injury.