Romine, Yankees get past sloppy Indians, 5-4
Austin Romine came all the way around to score when the Cleveland Indians made two errors on his double to right field in the seventh inning, single-handedly breaking a tie and providing the margin of victory in the New York Yankees' 5-4 win Saturday night in Cleveland.
David Robertson (7-3) pitched out of a jam in the bottom of the sixth and combined with two fellow relievers on 3 1/3 innings of hitless and scoreless relief, helping the Yankees beat the Indians for the second time in three nights.
After Cleveland had rallied into a 4-4 tie in the sixth on Brandon Guyer's infield single that scored two runs, including Jose Ramirez all the way from second base, Romine laced Indians starter Mike Clevinger's first pitch of the seventh into right field for a double.
The catcher got waved on to third when Guyer, the Indians' right fielder, had trouble coming up with the ball, and when second baseman Erik Gonzalez threw wildly toward third base, Romine was able to dash home with the difference-making run.
Cleveland was charged with two errors on the play.
The Indians threatened to do more than just tie the game in the sixth before Robertson got Yan Gomes to strike out with two outs and two runners aboard to set the stage for Romine's big hit.
Robertson, who also pitched a scoreless seventh with two additional strikeouts, was credited with the win. Dellin Betances followed with a 1-2-3 eighth before closer Aroldis Chapman pitched around a one-out walk to Francisco Mejia in the ninth for his 26th save.
Clevinger (7-5) took the loss, even though the tiebreaking run was unearned. He pitched six innings, allowing five runs (four earned) and seven hits. He walked one and struck out eight.
Yankees starter CC Sabathia was pulled after giving up four runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out two.
Both teams wasted little time getting on the scoreboard.
After Brett Gardner had walked and Aaron Judge had singled to open the game, Didi Gregorius smacked Clevinger's 14th pitch of the night for a three-run home run. It was Gregorius' 17th homer of the season.
The Indians countered just as quickly in the bottom of the first, getting a solo home run from Ramirez, his 29th of the year, on Sabathia's 14th pitch.
Greg Bird added a second Yankees homer in the sixth, a solo shot that increased New York's lead to 4-2. It was his eighth homer of the season.
Gregorius finished with two hits and three RBIs for the Yankees, who clinched a winning 11-game trip by prevailing for the sixth time in 10 games.
Guyer had two RBIs and Ramirez scored twice for the Indians, who fell to 3-6 on their 10-game homestand.
The Yankees out-hit the Indians 9-4.
--Field Level Media
