Indians at Yankees
The Cleveland Indians used the long ball to avoid a sweep and are swinging the power bats at the right time as they begin a three-game series against the host New York Yankees on Friday. Yankee Stadium has the highest home run rate of any American League park and will be hard-pressed to contain the Indians, who have hit 15 shots over their last seven games.
Four came in Thursday's 9-2 rout of Minnesota, which helped Cleveland open a three-game lead in the AL Central. The Indians and Yankees pulled off one of the bigger deals before Monday's trade deadline, as former New York closer Andrew Miller was shipped to Cleveland for a host of prospects. Miller retired all four batters he faced - three via strikeout - on Thursday and is sure to be a factor this weekend as he returns to a stadium at which he is 8-1 with a 1.49 ERA in his career. The Yankees are coming off a four-game split of their Subway Series with the Mets that concluded with a 4-1 setback on Thursday.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Josh Tomlin (11-3, 3.43 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Michael Pineda (5-10, 5.13)
Tomlin will be making his 20th start for the first time since 2011 and will tie his career high for wins - also accomplished five seasons ago - with a victory. He allowed two runs in seven innings to defeat Oakland on Saturday but gave up his 25th home run, the fourth-highest total in the AL entering Thursday. Mark Teixeira is 4-for-13 with a pair of homers against the 31-year-old Tomlin, who is 1-2 with a 7.16 ERA in four career games (three starts) at Yankee Stadium.
Pineda gave up exactly five runs in three of his five starts last month, including a six-inning effort in a loss at Tampa Bay on Sunday. He has recorded eight strikeouts in each of his last three outings and pulled into Thursday leading the AL with an average of 10.78 per nine innings. The Dominican will be making his 90th career start but first against Cleveland.
WALK-OFFS
1. Indians 1B Mike Napoli's home run streak ended at five games Thursday, but he is 10-for-21 with nine RBIs and eight runs during his six-game hitting streak.
2. Cleveland is 11-14 against the AL East while New York is 17-10 versus the Central.
3. The Yankees scored 25 runs in winning three of four games at Cleveland last month.