The New York Yankees continued their roller-coaster season today at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees shamed the Cleveland Indians in game one of the series by shutting them out 8-0, only to be shamed in game two with an 11-3 loss. Today was the rubber game of the three-game series with ace Gerrit Cole on the mound for the Yankees and Eli Morgan for the Indians. This was a must-win game for the Yankees, as with yesterday’s loss, they slipped out of a wild card berth. In a complete shock, Cole gave up 7 runs, and the Yankees lost 11-1.
Cole faced Brad Zimmer leading off in the first inning. Zimmer didn’t get a chance to hit the ball as a pitch hit him. The game was delayed as he tried to walk it off. Oscar Mercado struck out swinging. Jose Ramirez walked. With two on and one out, Bobby Bradley singled, loading the bases for Harold Ramirez, who singled past a diving Rizzo scoring two runs. Yu Chang with men on the corners and still only one out hit into a double play, getting Cole out of further trouble.
DJ LeMahieu led off in the bottom of the first against Eli Morgan and struck out. Anthony Rizzo flew out to right. Aaron Judge ground out to short. Cleveland Indians 2 Yankees 0.
The second inning was led off by Roberto Perez, who ground out softly to second. Andres Gimenez struck out. Ernie Clement flew out to Stanton in right. At the bottom, Giancarlo Stanton went down swinging. Luke Voit ground out to short. Gleyber Torres hit a double off the center-field wall. Brett Gardner ground back to the pitcher to end the inning. Indians 2 Yankees 0.
It was the top of the lineup for the Indians in the third. Zimmer singled up the middle. Mercado flew out to Judge in center. Ramirez singled to center, moving Zimmer to second. Bradley struck out. H. Ramirez singled to the left-center. Gardner and Judge converged, and neither caught the ball, scoring another two runs for the Indians. Chang singled up the middle, moving H Ramirez to third. Perez, with men on the corners and two outs singled, bring in another Indian’s run. Gimenez ground out to second, but the Indian tacked on three more runs.
At the bottom of the third, Gio Urshela led off and homered into the centerfield wall, with Ramirez crashing into the wall; following a delay, it was determined that he couldn’t throw and was taking out of the game. Higashioka gave one a ride to the warning track in center for out number one. LeMahieu got a base hit to left. Rizzo singled to right, with DJ moving to second. Judge with two on and only one out flew out to center. Stanton flew out to the warning track in right-center. Cleveland Indians 5 Yankees 1.
The fourth inning was led off by Clement, who ground out to left. Zimmer stuck out, and Mercado ground out to third. At the bottom, Voit flew out to the center. Torres flew out to right. Gardner flew out to left for the first quick inning of the game. Indians 5 Yankees 1.
Jose Ramirez led off the fifth inning with his 35th home run of the season into the second deck at Yankee Stadium. Bradley struck out swinging. Myles Straw hitting for Ramirez that was taken out of the game, singled to center. Yu Chang at the base, Straw was caught off first for the second out, and Chang struck out. At the bottom, Urshela singled up the middle. Higashioka hit into 4-6-3 double play. LeMahieu flew out to left. Indians 6 Yankees 1.
The sixth inning Yankee crowd was stunned when Gerrit Cole gave up his seventh run to Perez, a homer into the left-field bullpen. Gimenez struck out. Clement lined out to left. Cole was taken out of the game to boos from the Yankee faithful. Zimmer faced the new Yankee pitcher Lucas Luetge and ground out to first. At the bottom, with Morgan still in the game, Rizzo singled to left. Judge struck out. Stanton ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Indians 7 Yankees 1.
Oscar Mercado led off the seventh inning by grounding out to short. Ramirez singled to left. Bradley struck out. Myles Straw reached on an E5, with Ramirez moving to second. Chang singled, driving in Ramirez as the Indians tack on another run. Perez stuck out. In the bottom, Luke Voit struck out against new pitcher Trevor Stephan. Torres went down on strikes. Gardner also stuck out. Indians 8 New York Yankees 1.
The eighth inning was led off by Gimenez, who singled to left off new Yankee pitcher Clarke Schmidt. Clement walked. Zimmer singled, both runners moved up on a passed ball by Higashioka. Mercado walked. Ramirez came to the plate with the bases loaded and only one out and singled out to right, allowing two more runs to score. Bradley struck out, and Straw struck out, but the Indians picked up another two runs. At the bottom, Urshela flew out to right. Higashioka doubled to right. LeMahieu singled into right field. Rizzo struck out. Judge with two on and two outs struck out, stranding two. Indians 10 Yankees 1.
At the top of the ninth, Chang singled to left. Perez struck out. Chang moved to second on a passed ball. Gimenez singled with Chang moving to third. Gimenez beat out Schmidt to the base. Clement reached on an E3 sloppy play by Rizzo as another Indian run scored. Zimmer ground out. Mercado ground into a force out. Stanton came to the plate and struck out at the bottom, with last licks on the line for the Yankees. Voit struck out. Torres also struck out to end the game.
The final score was the Cleveland Indians 11 and the New York Yankees 1. The winning pitcher was Eli Morgan, and the loser was Gerrit Cole.