Cleveland Indians Notch Fourth in a Row With Win Over Yankees

Tribe win fourth straight behind another solid start from Salazar

It’s a frightening thought if you think about where the Cleveland Indians would be if this starting staff would have had more support to this point. The Tribe picked up their fourth win in a row with a 2-1 victory behind Danny Salazar‘s (10-6, 3.26) gem–another in a line of great outings from the Indians staff. He pitched into the eighth while striking out eight as they got just enough offense to come out ahead. Francisco Lindor and Abraham Almonte each had RBI singles for the Tribe.

The Indians (53-59) are slowly creeping back towards the .500 mark, and in the process have knocked the New York Yankees (61-51) from the top spot in the AL East. C.C. Sabathia (4-9, 5.23) returned to the place he called home for many years and managed to keep the damage to a minimum while constantly having to work out of jams.

The Yankees struck first as Brian McCann connected off of Salazar for a solo home run in the second, his 19th on the year to put the Yanks up 1-0. But that was all the fireworks they would have as their once vibrant offense continues to struggle in the second half. 

More from Away Back Gone

• Cleveland Guardians tantalizingly close to locking up AL Central tiebreakers
• Cleveland Guardians: Terry Francona becomes meme in profanity-laced ejection
• Say goodbye to defensive shifts and hello to bigger bases, pitch clock in 2023
• Cleveland Guardians: Shane Bieber second-fastest to 800 strikeouts in major-league history
• The next week will make or break the Cleveland Guardians’ season

Lindor tied the game up in the fifth with an RBI single to right to drive in Roberto Perez. Sabathia would surrender another RBI single in the sixth to Almonte which would be the deciding run in the contest. After struggling in recent weeks, Cody Allen pitched 1 2/3 innings while striking out three to collect his 23rd save of the season.

It may be a little ambitious–and a little too soon–but the Tribe is only six games out in the Wild Card race. The recent moves have either brought together a streak of good luck, or things are simply starting to gel for this team. If the Indians can start playing better baseball at home, they can be a dark horse for the second Wild Card spot.

The two will close out the series tomorrow as Trevor Bauer (9-8, 4.06) looks to finish off the sweep against the Yankees’ Nathan Eovaldi (11-2, 4.15).