A-Rod, Pettitte Carry Yanks Past Indians

Andy Pettitte and the Yankees rolled over the Indians yesterday in the Bronx, taking the series finale 11-2.

Pettitte had another impressive start, holding Cleveland to a run on four hits over seven very strong innings. He’s now 7-1 on the year and has a very impressive 2.48 ERA. The seven wins ties him with David Price and Clay Buchholz for the American League lead, and his ERA ranks third in the league.

The only mistake he made was in the second when he allowed a solo homer to Jhonny Peralta .

Besides that he just scattered three singles and did not walk a batter. The Yankees had scored a run in the first on an RBI single by Alex Rodriguez so Peralta’s homer tied it at one.

The score would remain tied through three and a half, but the Yankees would take the lead for good with a run in the bottom of the fourth.

Nick Swisher led off with a double, and then later in the inning Brett Gardner drove him in with a two-out single. It was one of three hits on the day for Gardner who raised his average to .299.

Indians starter Mitch Talbot also pitched well. He held the Yanks to three runs on nine hits over 6.1 innings, but once he left the game the Yankees would blow the game open against the Indians’ pen.

Talbot left the game with a runner on first and one out in the sixth and was replaced by Rafael Perez .

Perez allowed a single to Curtis Granderson , and then with Mark Teixeira at the plate he uncorked a wild pitch allowing the runners to move up to 2nd and 3rd. The Indians decided to walk Tex and go after A-Rod with the bases loaded.

Like Minnesota earlier this month, it would prove to be a costly mistake.

Chris Perez came in to face A-Rod and fell behind 3-1 in the count. He then threw him a 95 mph fastball right down the middle and A-Rod hammered it into Monument Park.

The grand slam capped off a great day for Alex, who went 3-for-4 with six RBI. For the season, A-Rod is 5-for-6 with 3 HR with 18 RBI when teams walk Teixeira intentionally to face him.

After A-Rod’s blast, Robinson Cano made it back-to-back homers with his 11th long ball of the season. Cano’s homer extended his hitting streak to 14 games. The Yankees would go on to tack on four more to build up an 11-1 lead.

Chan Ho Park pitched the final two innings for the Yanks. He allowed a run on two hits, walked one, and struck out three.

The Yankees open up a three game series with the Orioles tomorrow in the Bronx. Javier Vazquez will start for the Yankees, with left-hander Brian Matusz going for the O’s. First pitch will be at 7:05 p.m. and the game will be on YES.

(Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)