The New York Yankees had fallen out of a walk card berth and, tonight, entered a new series, with a new urgency to get back into one of those postseason spots. Tonight the Yankees took on the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium with that goal in mind. Corey Kluber took the mound for the Yankees facing the Indians’ Zach Plesac.
In the first inning, Kluber faced Myles Straw; he flew out to Gallo in left. Brad Zimmer struck out when he couldn’t hold up. Jose Ramirez singled and immediately stole second. Franmil Reyes tapped back to Kluber to end the half. At the bottom, DJ LeMahieu led off with a single up the middle. Anthony Rizzo flew out to right. Aaron Judge singled to left, moving DJ to second base. Giancarlo Stanton hit into a 4-3-6 double play to strand two batters. No score.
Bobby Bradley led the second inning, who reached on an E3 when the hit tipped off Rizzo’s glove. Harold Ramirez flew out to Judge, and Judge fired in getting Bradley out at first. Two outs. Owen Miller flew out to center to end the half. In the bottom, Joey Gallo led off by hitting his 36th home run of the season into the second deck in right. Gleyber Torres ground out to second. Gio Urshela ground out to first. Brett Gardner ground out to third base. New York Yankees 1 Indians 0.
Leading off the third inning was Robert Perez, who singled to center field. A pitch hit Andres Gimenez. Straw with two on and no outs struck out. Zimmer flew out to Judge in right with the runners, not challenging Judge. Jose Ramirez lined out to second, assisted by Kluber to end the half. At the bottom, Kyle Higashioka led off by going down on strikes. LeMahieu popped out to second. Rizzo flew out to right to end the inning. Yankees 1 Indians 0.
Franmil Reyes led off the fourth by striking out. Bradley struck out. H. Ramirez singled up the middle. Miller popped out to Rizzo to end the half. Aaron Judge led off the bottom and homered the other way for his 35th of the season. Stanton went down on strikes. Gallo, who homered in the second, flew out to left. Torres stuck out swinging, but the Yankees picked up another run off of Judge’s home run. New York Yankees 2 Indians 0.
The fifth inning was led off by Perez, who worked a walk. Gimenez singled up the middle. Straw with two on and no outs hit into a double play with Perez moving to third. Zimmer ground out to second to end the half stranding Perez at third. Urshela led off the bottom of the fifth by singling up the middle. Gardner went down on three pitches. Higashioka gave one a ride, but it was caught at the right-centerfield wall. LeMahieu ground to first to end the inning. Yankees 2 Indians 0.
Jose Ramirez was at the plate for the sixth inning with Kluber still on the mound and walked. Reyes hit into a double play. Bradley flew out to Gallo to end the half. At the bottom, Rizzo ground out to first. Judge struck out. Stanton tipped back into the catcher’s glove, and that was it for the sixth. Yankees 2 Indians 0.
Harold Ramirez led off the seventh by facing new Yankee pitcher Michael King and went down on strikes. Miller ground out to third. Perez lined out directly to Torres at second. At the bottom, Gallo led off by singling to first. Torres walked. Urshela singled to center field, scoring Joey Gallo for the Yankee’s three run lead. With one in, two on, and no outs, Gardner hit a two-run homer to the short porch at the stadium. Higashioka struck out. LeMahieu ground out to center. Rizzo was out on a slow roller to second. New York Yankees 6 Indians 0.
The eighth inning was led off by Gimenez going down looking. Straw struck out. Zimmer flew out to Gardner, almost having a collision with Gallo. At the bottom, Judge led off by flying out to the warning track in right. Stanton homered into the left-field stands. Then Gallo had a back-to-back home run to right-center into the bullpen. Torres singled to center. Urshela, with still only one out, flew out to center. Gardner walked. Higashioka went down on strikes. New York Yankees 8 and the Cleveland Indians 0.
With the last licks on the line for the Indians in the top of the ninth, the Indian’s best player took to the plate and ground out to Urshela. Reyes flew out to Gallo in left. Yu Chang pinch-hitting for Bradley struck out to give the Yankees the shut out.
The final score was the New York Yankees 8 and the Cleveland Indians 0. The winning pitcher was Corey Kluber, and the loser was Zach Plesac.