NEW YORK -- Seeking a stopper, the Indians turned to their ace. Corey Kluber toed the rubber on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, tasked with reversing five rough performances by the Indians' starting rotation, and he didn't disappoint. The right-hander tossed eight dominant innings to lead the Indians to a 5-2 win over the Yankees.
Kluber, the 2014 American League Cy Young Award winner, received some help from his offense, which mashed three solo home runs, two of which came against CC Sabathia, who won the '07 AL Cy Young. The big lefty struck out five, but was charged with three earned runs over 5 2/3 innings.
The Yankees struck first when rookie catcher Gary Sanchez ripped an RBI double in the second. It marked the second straight game he recorded an RBI, after driving in two runs on Friday. The Bombers scored later in the inning, when Sanchez sped home on a wild pitch. But the Tribe provided the rest of the offense from there.
Jason Kipnis got Cleveland on the board with a solo homer in the fourth. The Indians tied the score at 2 in the fifth, when Rajai Davis delivered an RBI single. Mike Napoli put the Indians ahead with a solo shot in the sixth, and Davis added a solo homer of his own in the seventh. The Indians tacked on some additional insurance in the ninth when Kipnis' RBI single scored Davis.
Former Yankees left-hander Andrew Miller picked up his first save with the Indians with a scoreless ninth inning.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
It's the little things: The Indians didn't pack the bases with runners. In fact, they finished 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position. But thanks to three big swings, Cleveland picked up the victory. Kipnis ripped a solo shot in the fourth, while Napoli hit another in the sixth and Davis blasted one to left field in the seventh. It wasn't an overwhelming display of offense, but the power surge lifted the Tribe.
Kipnis' solo jack
CLE@NYY: Kipnis crushes his 19th homer of the season
Jason Kipnis puts the Indians on the scoreboard in the 4th inning with a solo home run to right-center field
Top to bottom: If the Yankees only had to face the bottom half of the Indians' lineup on Saturday, things might've ended up a little bit differently. All five of the Indians' runs were driven in and four of the five runs were scored by the first four men in the lineup. By contrast, the top four hitters in the Yankees' lineup went 2-for-15 on Saturday with four strikeouts.
Joshua Needelman is a reporter for MLB.com based in New York. He covered the Indians on Saturday.
Nick Suss is a reporter for MLB.com based in New York. He covered the Yankees on Saturday.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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