The Struggles Against the Yankees Continue
Think back to last October in the divisional round of the 2017 MLB Playoffs. I know it is a rough memory but think about the pain you felt after the New York Yankees beat the Indians three games in a row. The Indians had a 2-0 lead, but that didn’t stop them from losing the series. We all remember having one of the top seeds in the American League Playoffs and having high hopes for the postseason. It was all very tough to cope with and it did not help at all that it was the Yankees that beat us. This past weekend, we had the first chance of the season to get our revenge in New York.
The first game of the series was on Friday, May 4. Josh Tomlin started it off for us and struggled, giving up four earned runs. With the Yankees up five to three, Jose Ramirez stepped up and hit a two-run home run to tie the game. In the ninth inning, Yan Gomes scored on a wild pitch from Aroldis Chapman to tie the game again. That didn’t last long with the Yankees getting a game-winning single in the bottom of the inning.
In the second game, Trevor Bauer got the start. The Yankees managed to score five runs and our offense just couldn’t keep up. Unfortunately, we lost five to two, this time without a game-winner.
Without a win, we already lost the series, but we were hoping for a win in the final game. Clevinger started the game and pitched seven scoreless innings. It wasn’t until the eighth inning though that we were able to get on the board, scoring four runs in the inning. With a four-run lead, we only needed to hold them for two more innings. The Yankees scored three runs, shut us out in the ninth and then scored four more runs in the bottom of the ninth. Well, that was the end of it, another loss to the Yankees and now we were at six-straight losses against them.
Once again, I was pretty disappointed in the effort by the Indians. The offense was there, wasn’t huge, but it was there. It was the bullpen that was lacking. The starting pitching was able to give good outings in all three games, but the bullpen couldn’t keep the game close or keep any lead we had. Two of the games were lost in the final inning. It was quite unfortunate, yet maybe it was an eye-opener for the changes needed to be made in the bullpen.
The Indians players have talked about looking forward to playing the Yankees to redeem their playoff loss, but this did not seem to be true during the series. The Yankees currently have the second-best record in the American League and are looking to be back in the playoffs this year. There is a chance we will see them again this postseason, so we’re going to have to figure it out before then. It won’t be until July 12 that we get to play them again. I’ll be looking forward to seeing how we improve.
Image: ESPN
