Jhonny On The Spot

Score: Indians 6 Yankees 4


Turning Point: With two on and two out in the bottom half of the fifth, Jhonny Peralta stepped to the plate. The Yankees had the lead at 3-1, until Peralta crushed a 3-1 fastball over the left field wall. That home run helped drive Andy Pettitte from the game, and took the wind out of the collective sail of New York.


Analysis: This was a nice hard nose win. Peralta was definitely the offensive hero in this one. The Indians took care of business with two outs and runners in scoring position. All of the runs were scored with two outs. The fifth inning was crucial, but the Tribe finally got to Andy Pettitte. Peralta hit his three run home run, and Franklin Gutierrez made it back to back homers with his moon shot to left field. Rafael Perez was the hero on the mound. Byrd scattered six hits and fours runs over 5 and 2/3. But it was Perez, who came in and shut the Yankee offense down. Rafael Betancourt worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his second save of the year.


MVP: Jhonny Peralta
Jhonny was on tonight. Peralta drove in four of the six two out runs. As mentioned above, it was his three run shot that doomed Andy Pettite. Jhonny finished 2-4. He also turned a crucial double play in the eighth that kept the Yankees in check.


Extras:

- Tonight’s win over New York was the first regular since win over them since July 4, 2006. But if one counts the playoffs, the Indians have won the last four out of five games from the Yankees.

- Jamey Carroll had a nice night at the plate and on the base paths. Carroll hit a single that brought Grady Sizemore home for a much needed insurance run. He also scored the first run of the game, and he also stole two bases.

- Tonight tied Andy Pettitte’s shortest outing of the season, and it was also the most runs he has given up in a start this year. Pettitte, who normally pitches extremely well against Cleveland, was rattled in the fifth after giving up the back to back home runs in the fifth inning.


Next Up: Game Two of this four game set is tomorrow afternoon. The Indians will hand the ball to the recently called up Jeremy Sowers, who takes Jake Westbrook’s spot in the rotation. Sowers has not pitched in a game yet, but he was 0-2 with a 3.18 ERA in four starts at Triple A Buffalo. The Yankees will give Ian Kennedy the start. Kennedy has struggled so far this season. His is 0-2 with a 9.64 ERA. First pitch is from Progressive Field, at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario, at 3:55 PM.