This was the Indians’ offense in a nutshell. Cleveland’s lineup went quiet for most of the night on Thursday, making it seem as though another outage would lead to a disappointing defeat. The Tribe changed that script in a hurry.
The Indians used a late nine-run push in the seventh and eighth innings to erase some early woes and claim a 9-3 rout over the Yankees in the finale of a four-game set at Progressive Field. With the win, which included a memorable Major League debut for catcher Roberto Perez, Cleveland split the series and improved to 27-18 in front of the home crowd this season.
The feast-or-famine nature of the Tribe nine was on full display.
“Regardless of what’s happening early in the game,” Indians designated hitter Nick Swisher said, “it kind of seems like we always find a way to fight ourselves back into a game.”
For the first six innings, Yankees right-hander David Phelps blanked Cleveland’s bats, making the mistakes by Indians starter T.J. House more glaring. The Indians’ defense did House no favors with a handful of miscues — only one of which went down as an official error. It had the makings of a long night for the Indians, who had already endured a 14-inning loss one game earlier.
House lasted only 4 2/3 innings, during which he was charged with three runs on eight hits and twice escaped a bases-loaded jam. The lefty surrendered a two-run home run to New York’s Zelous Wheeler in the fourth inning and gave up a run-scoring single to Yangervis Solarte in the fifth, putting Cleveland in a 3-0 hole that lasted through the sixth.
“I’m disappointed that I didn’t go the length that I wanted to,” House said. “But, we won the game. I think that’s the most important part.”
Phelps finally faltered in the seventh, and Cleveland steamrolled its way to the win column.
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