(Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| N.Y. Yankees (63-36) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| Cleveland (42-58) « | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | x | 4 | 10 | 0 |
SV: C. Perez (10)
Once again the Yankees were dominated by a rookie pitcher making his MLB debut. One run on three hits over seven was all the Yankees could muster up against Josh Tomlin over seven innings as the Tribe beat the Yanks 4-1.
It was the same recipe other rookies have used to beat the Yanks. He didn't have especially good stuff, but he threw strikes and kept that Yankees just off-balance enough so that none of those 11 flyball outs ended up flying out of the ballpark. One of those 11, came off the bat of Alex Rodriguez, and reached the warning track. It was the closest he came to 600 on the night.
CC Sabathia wasn't bad on the for the Yanks, but thanks to some shoddy defense he allowed four runs (two earned) on nine hits, walked three, and struck out five over seven innings.
The second inning was an ugly one for the Yanks. After Cleveland put runners on second and third with nobody out, Austin Kearns hit a grounder to Alex Rodriguez who made a nice throw to the plate, beating Asbrubal Cabrera, who was running from third, by a few feet, but Francisco Cervelli couldn't hold on to the ball and everybody was safe.
Later in the inning, Jhonny Peralta hit what looked like a 6-4-3 inning-ending doubleplay, but second base umpire, Jerry Meals, said Robinson Cano left the base too soon, then the throw just missed getting Peralta by an inch, so instead of inning over, the Indians had the bases loaded with one out. The call at first was fine, but when was the last time you didn't see a 2nd base ump give the second baseman or shortstop the neighborhood play?
Some more not so stellar defense would cost the Yankees another two runs in the sixth, when Matt LaPorta hit a long fly ball to center. Curtis Granderson tracked it down and had the ball in his glove, but he the ball popped out and a LaPorta was in with an RBI double. Cleveland would score their fourth run a few batters later when Sabathia would walk Chris Gimenez with the bases loaded.
The Yanks would score a run against the Tomlin before he left the game in the eighth, and then brought the tying run to the plate against Chris Perez in the ninth with nobody out, but Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira, and Alex Rodriguez went down in order to finish off the game.
Tampa and Boston also won, so the leads in the AL East drop to 2 and 7 games, respectively.
At least they don't have to face a rookie tonight, as A.J. Burnett faces Fausto Carmona in game three of this four-game set. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. and the game will be on YES.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Josh Tomlin (W, 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K)
HONORABLE MENTION: Matt LaPorta (2-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI)
GOAT OF THE GAME: The Lineup (besides Jeter who went 2-for-4)
