New York Yankees’ Didi Gregorius (right) scores as Cleveland Indians catcher Yan Gomes waits for the ball in the tenth inning the game on Tuesday in Cleveland.
Reuters/New York
Left fielder Michael Brantley’s RBI single in the bottom of the 16th inning gave Cleveland a 5-4 victory over the New York Yankees on Tuesday.
With one out in the bottom of the 16th, second baseman Jose Ramirez singled off right-hander Branden Pinder (0-2).
Shortstop Francisco Lindor then singled, moving Ramirez to second before Brantley lined a 1-0 pitch past first baseman Mark Teixeira for a single to bring Ramirez home.
“It was a long night and a lot of things happened, but it was fun to be a part of it,” said Indians manager Terry Francona.
The game had been tied 2-2 after nine innings.
After the Yankees took a 4-2 lead in the top of the 10th inning, the Indians rallied to tie it in the bottom half, forcing Andrew Miller’s first blown save of the season. He had been 24-for-24 in save opportunities coming into the game.
“It stinks,” said Miller. “I put us in a terrible situation.
“I had a chance to close out the game and I didn’t do it. I feel bad that I let us down, with the game won.”
Girardi said he was confident when he brought Miller into the game.
“I feel good every time we bring Andrew in,” said Girardi. “Two of their hits were a squibber and a jam shot. I thought he threw well, he just had some bad luck.”
Right-hander Carlos Carrasco dominated the Yankees through the first five innings, retiring 15 of the 16 batters he faced.
With the Indians leading 2-0, the Yankees got a run back in the sixth inning when second baseman Stephen Drew ripped a 3-2 pitch from Carrasco into the seats in right field for his 14th home run, cutting the Cleveland lead to 2-1.
New York tied it in the eighth inning when right fielder Carlos Beltran led off the inning by hitting his 10th home run.
Carrasco was removed from the game after the eighth inning. He allowed two runs on four hits with eight strikeouts and no walks.
In his last three starts, he is 1-0 with a 1.04 ERA and an opponents’ batting average of .085 (7-for-82), with 22 strikeouts and two walks.
“The key has been my mechanics have been very good in those three games,” said Carrasco
Cardinals rally to defeat visiting Pirates
St. Louis rallied for three runs in the bottom of the fifth after denying Pittsburgh a prime scoring threat to notch a 4-3 win on Tuesday in the opener of a series between the teams with the top records in the National League.
The Cardinals (72-40) got three hits and the tie-breaking RBI from rookie left fielder Stephen Piscotty and eight innings from starter Carlos Martinez (12-4) in improving their Central Division lead over the Pirates (65-45) to six games.
Martinez had wriggled out of a first-and-second, no-out jam in Pittsburgh’s fifth, inducing a 6-3 double play from center fielder Andrew McCutchen and a lineout from third baseman Aramis Ramirez that shifted the momentum of the game.
“That was huge,” St. Louis second baseman Kolten Wong said of Martinez’s escape act. “We knew we had to get something going on offense.”
The Cardinals did, with Pirates starter Jeff Locke struggling with his fastball accuracy as he walked Wong and shortstop Jhonny Peralta to start the bottom of the fifth inning.
Right fielder Jason Heyward’s ground ball single to right scored Wong to make it 3-2. After an infield out moved two runners into scoring position, catcher Yadier Molina lofted a sacrifice fly that brought in Peralta.
Piscotty then laced a single to center that brought Heyward home.
“It’s odd to see a rookie with the kind of disposition that Stephen has,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said.
“He’s going about it the right way. He’s using all the tools at his disposal—doing his film work, talking with the other hitters—and he’s adjusted quickly.”
Given his first lead, Martinez mixed in more off-speed pitches to complement a fastball which was still touching 96 mph during the eighth inning.
“I know they’ve seen me before,” he said through an interpreter, “so they know I throw hard. I had to throw other pitches to keep them off-balance.”
Pittsburgh had nicked Martinez for runs in three of the first four innings. Shortstop Jung Ho Kang delivered a two-out RBI double in the first, while Ramirez snapped a 1-1 tie in the third with a two-out run-scoring single.
First baseman Pedro Alvarez increased the lead to 3-1 an inning later when he hit his 16th homer of the year, but that was it for the Pirate attack.
“It doesn’t matter how you lose,” McCutchen said. “No one likes to lose. All you can do is get ready for tomorrow.”
