Indians at Yankees
A five-game winning streak has fueled a sterling 14-1 stretch for the New York Yankees, who have ended any talk of being underachievers by racing out to their best start since 2003. The Yankees (23-10) bid to extend their home winning streak to nine games on Sunday with a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians (17-16), who have dropped six of their last nine overall.
Rookie Gleyber Torres launched his first major-league homer in the opener and added a single and scored a run in Saturday's 5-2 win, improving to 16-for-48 with eight RBIs since being recalled from the minors. Brett Gardner drove in a pair of runs to match the sum total of his previous 11 contests for New York, which ends a grueling stretch of games in which it has played 18 times in as many days. Although Francisco Lindor has homered four times during his eight-game hitting streak, the 2016 Gold Glove recipient lamented his defensive play - highlighted by a double error on Saturday that changed the complexion the contest. "Both games have been lost because of me. That's unacceptable," the 24-year-old Lindor said. "... The only one that's not a good job is me and I put that on me."
TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, MLB Network, SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Mike Clevinger (2-0, 2.82 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Domingo German (0-1, 3.77)
Clevinger has made himself at home on the road by winning 10 of 15 decisions with a 3.28 ERA in 23 career away contests, including a pair of scoreless starts this season. The 27-year-old recorded his fourth straight no-decision at home, however, on Tuesday despite permitting three runs in 6 2/3 innings versus Texas. Aaron Judge greeted Clevinger with a three-run shot in the latter's lone appearance versus the Yankees, an 8-1 loss on Aug. 6.
German earned his first major-league start following four scoreless innings of relief versus Houston after Jordan Montgomery exited with a left flexor strain, an injury that is expected to sideline the latter for as many as two months. "I didn't make the team out of spring but I knew I was a phone call away and therefore I needed to be ready," the 25-year-old Dominican told Newsday through his translator. "I couldn't lose focus on my training and my work because I knew an opportunity was going to come eventually." Dellin Betances has labeled his curveball as "really filthy" and that he has "electric stuff," perhaps an appropriate assessment considering German has struck out 18 in 14 1/3 innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cleveland 1B Yonder Alonso is 2-for-22 with 10 strikeouts in his last six contests.
2. New York RF Giancarlo Stanton is 4-for-23 with 13 strikeouts in his last six games.
3. The Indians are just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position in this series.