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Jobu reviews the Yankees series against the Cleveland Indians.

Apologies to my readers for the tardiness of this post, August tends to get kind of busy around the Rum Barrel. Either way it’s going to be brief. Over the weekend, the Yankees were hosted by the Cleveland Indians for three games. It was a very important series and, with the Rays and Orioles now breathing down their necks, pretty close to a must-win. Fortunately, the Yankees got their acts together and took two out of three from the struggling Indians.

Game 1: Yankees 3, Indians 1

Swisher’s recent run of success continued with a big game on Friday. (Getty Images)

While I’ve had my troubles with the way CC Sabathia has pitched this season, it was certainly nice to see him come off the DL against a light-hitting team like the Indians. CC enjoyed himself as well. They got a strong start from him and just enough runs from the offense to win the game 3-1.

Welcome Back CC

CC was great in this game. Unfortunately, I can’t give him all the credit in the world because you’re supposed to pitch well against terrible teams, especially if you’re an ace. I can’t knock CC though. The only blemish on his record was a solo home run by Asdrubal Cabrera in the fourth. His final line looked like this: 7.1 Ip, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 Ks, 100 pitches and his thirteenth win of the season (13-3). It’s been an up and down season for CC so far, but a good finish will erase all of that very quickly.

Swishalicious

This game wasn’t pretty offensively for the Yankees. In fact, only Derek Jeter, who led off, and Nick Swisher, who batted second, really did anything of note. The two opened the game with back to back doubles to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the first, and Jeter singled and scored on a two-run home run by Swisher in the seventh. Those were the three runs the Yankees scored. Thanks, fellows.

Notable Offense: HR – Swisher (19), RBI – Swisher 3 (72), 3 hits for Swisher, 2 hits for Jeter

Boxscore – 8/24/2012

Game 2: Indians 3, Yankees 1

Masterson didn’t let the Yankees do much in his game two win. (Tony Dejak/AP)

The Yankees’ offensive struggles continued in this game and Hiroki Kuroda was saddled with a tough loss because the Yankees couldn’t score runs off of Justin (don’t call him Danny) Masterson. All three of Cleveland’s runs came in the first inning, which was pretty annoying.

Sorry, Hiroki

I know Kuroda never got a lot of run support on the Dodgers, but it seems the Yankees have continued the trend. Kuroda did not come out sharp in this game at all. He hit Jason Kipnis and walked Shin-Soo Choo and was unable to get out of the jam because he hung a splitter to Michael Brantley, who hit it for a two-out three run home run. That would be all for the Indians, and that’s all they would need. Kuroda’s final line looked like this: 8 Ip, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BBs, 6 Ks, 108 pitches and his ninth loss of the season (12-9). It’s tough that he only has 12 wins despite having an ERA under 3.00, but that’s life.

Sorry Offense

The Yankees did not have a good game two with the bats. Their only run scored on a sacrifice fly by Mark Teixeira in the top of the sixth. They went 1-7 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base. That’s not how you win games.

Notable Offense: RBI – Teixeira (81), 2 hits for Jeter, 2 for Canó

Boxscore – 8/25/2012

Game 3: Yankees 4, Indians 2

Granderson’s milestone homer sealed the deal in game 3. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)

There wasn’t much to write home about in this one other than the bullpen. The Yankees sent Freddy García to the mound against Ubaldo Jiménez, who used to be good at baseball. Niether starter pitched all that great, but the Yankees bullpen pitched 4.1 innings and held of the Indians for the win.

Bad Freddy

Not much to say about Freddy’s start. He failed to make it to the fifth for the second consecutive start. This one was against the terrible Indians, which makes it a little harder to swallow. His final line looked like this: 4.2 Ip, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BBs, 6 Ks, 90 pitches and a no decision. After Freddy left in the fifth with two outs, Girardi went to Boone Logan for 1.2 innings, David Robertson for the eighth, and Rafael Soriano for a very, very eventful ninth. The Indians had the tying run on base with no out, but Soriano fought back and got the save. Untuck the shirt for the series win.

Go Up Early, Tack on Late

The Yankees only scored in two of the nine innings in game three. They put up three runs in the top of the second on an infield single by Ichiro, an RBI groundout by Jeter and a big two-out RBI hit by Swisher. While García and the bullpen held the Indians at bay, it’s always nice to have insurance. Curtis Granderson provided this insurance with his 200th career home run in the top of the sixth. The solo home run gave the Yankees the 4-2 lead they would not relinquish.

Notable Offense: HR – Granderson (33), RBI – Ichiro (42), Jeter (44), Swisher (73), Granderson (74), 3 hits for Swisher, 2 for Canó, 2 for Ichiro

Boxscore – 8/26/2012

Featured image courtesy of: Phil Long/AP

Martin Stezano

About Martin Stezano

Uruguayan born and American raised with a unique perspective on the domestic and international sports scenes. It will both tickle your funny bone and enlighten your mind. Love it or hate it...just read it.