Back To .500 as Yanks Fall to the Indians

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
N.Y. Yankees	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	0	0		4	6	1
Cleveland	1	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	X		6	9	0

The Yankees fell to 12-12 on the season with a 6-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians tonight at Progressive Field. Andy Pettitte got the start for the Yanks tonight and was good for the first 4.2 innings allowing just 1 unearned run on 4 hits, but then things fell apart very quickly. After two weak singles by Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta blasted a 3-run home run to give the Indians a 4-3 lead. The next batter was Franklin Gutierrez and he also homered, making it a 5-3 game. Pettitte then retired Casey Blake to end the inning, and that would be it for Pettitte. His final line was 5 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. Not terrible, but not good either. The loss drops Pettitte's record to 3-2.

Pettitte was also let down by his defense in the first inning which may have effected him later in the game. The first batter of the inning was Grady Sizemore and he hit a hard ground to Jason Giambi (he did make up for it with his bat) who couldn't handle it and Sizemore reached safely, and Giambi was correctly charged with an error. The next batter was Jamey Carroll and he hit a ball that could have been a double play but A-Rod couldn't get the ball out of his glove and they could only get the lead runner. Carroll then stole 2nd and scored on a 2-out single by Jhonny Peralta. These two misplays led to Pettitte throwing almost 30 pitches in the first, and by the time the 5th inning rolled around on this hot night in Cleveland Pettitte had run out of gas.

Billy Traber pitched the 6th and was very shaky. He was able to retire the first two batters he faced, but then gave up a single to Grady Sizemore, Sizemore then stole 2nd and scored on a Jamey Carroll bloop single to make it a 6-4 game. Carroll also stole 2nd and then Traber walked Hafner before getting Martinez to ground out to end the inning.

The one bright spot for the Yankees pitching staff was Jonathan Albaladejo who had been called up earlier in the day. Albaladejo pitched two scoreless innings, and allowed just one walk.

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pettitte (L, 3-2)	5.0	8	5	4	3	3	2	3.23
Traber	1.0	1	1	1	2	1	0	4.50
Albaladejo	2.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2.35

INDIANS PITCHING

The Yankees offense was led by Jason Giambi who hit two tape-measure shots, a 420 foot solo HR in the 2nd to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead, and a 450 foot 2-run shot in the 4th. Both home runs were off Indians starter Paul Byrd. Giambi now leads the Yankees in HRs with 5.

Hideki Matsui added a solo shot off Paul Byrd in the 5th to cut the lead to 5-4, his fourth of the year. But that was all the Yankees would get as Rafael Perez and Rafael Betancourt allowed just one walk in the final 3.1 innings.

Robinson Cano continues to do nothing, going 0-for-2 tonight, and is now 2 for his last 22. At least he drew a walk.

AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Damon, LF 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .244 Jeter, SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .260 Abreu, RF 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .297 Rodriguez, 3B 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .293 Matsui, DH 4 1 1 1 0 1 0 .321 Posada, C 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 .295 Giambi, 1B 3 2 2 3 0 0 0 .186 Cano, 2B 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .156 Cabrera, CF 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .296 Totals 32 4 6 4 1 2 4 BATTING 2B: Damon (7, Byrd). HR: Giambi 2 (5, 2nd inning off Byrd, 0 on, 2 out; 4th inning off Byrd, 1 on, 2 out), Matsui (4, 6th inning off Byrd, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Damon 2; Abreu; Matsui 4; Posada; Giambi 8. RBI: Giambi 3 (10), Matsui (11). 2-out RBI: Giambi 3; Matsui. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Abreu. GIDP: Cabrera. Team LOB: 2.

INDIANS HITTING

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jhonny Peralta (2-for-4, HR, 4 RBI)

HONORABLE MENTION: Jason Giambi (2-for-3, 2 HR, 3 RBI)

Game two of this four game series is tomorrow afternoon at "The Prog." Ian Kennedy gets the start for the Yankees, and Jeremy Sowers starts for the Tribe. First pitch is set for 3:55 p.m., and the game can be seen on FOX and heard on WCBS 880.