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Yankees surge past Indians

Jun 12, 2011 - 10:39 PM Bronx, NY (Sports Network) - Freddy Garcia pitched into the seventh inning and Alex Rodriguez knocked in three runs, leading the New York Yankees to a 9-1 victory over the Indians.

The Yankees banged out 18 hits and have won the first three games of this four-game series by a combined score of 24-8.

Garcia (5-5) gave up one run on seven hits and two walks, striking out six batters for his third win in four starts.

"He got out of some situations where they had runners in scoring position," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. "I thought that was important. It allowed us to build our lead."

Rodriguez keyed a five-run fifth with a two-run double and finished with three hits. Curtis Granderson had four hits, two RBI and two runs scored and Brett Gardner sparked each of New York's run-scoring innings with two doubles and a triple.

Josh Tomlin (7-4) was knocked around for six runs on 12 hits in five innings to absorb the loss as the Indians fell to 1-9 in their last 10 games.

Tomlin said he wasn't intimidated pitching against New York's high-powered offense, despite the outcome.

"That's why you play the game. You play to play against guys like [the Yankees] to test your stuff," remarked Tomlin. "I didn't change my approach at all. I still tried to go after them."

Derek Jeter had two hits for the Yankees to reach 2,993 for his career, while Cleveland's Orlando Cabrera reached 2,000 hits with a single in the second inning.

The Yankees have bounced back nicely to even their record to 3-3 on a 10-game homestand that started inauspiciously when they were swept in three games by the rival Red Sox.

Still, Sunday's win was dampened by the news that the Yankees had placed right-hander Bartolo Colon on the 15-day disabled list after he strained his left hamstring in Saturday's 4-0 win.

Gardner hit a leadoff double in the third inning and scored after back-to-back fly balls by Derek Jeter and Granderson. But the Yankees didn't blow the game open until their five-run fifth.

Again, Gardner provided a spark with a leadoff double. Jeter scored him with a single and Granderson followed with a base hit. Rodriguez delivered a one-out double to score two runs, then came home on Robinson Cano's single. Nick Swisher also singled and Cano scored on Jorge Posada's sacrifice fly to make it 6-0.

The Indians scratched out a run in the seventh to chase Garcia from the game.

Austin Kearns led off with a double and scored after back-to-back groundouts by Jack Hannahan and Michael Brantley. Garcia was pulled when Asdrubal Cabrera followed with a single. Boone Logan replaced Garcia on the mound.

The Indians then loaded the bases after Grady Sizemore walked and Carlos Santana reached on Rodriguez's throwing error, but Shin-Soo Choo lined out to Jeter at short to end the inning.

Considering their recent history, it wasn't surprising the Indians didn't get more out of the rally. They are mired in an .088 slump (6-for-68) with runners in scoring position.

"You can't expect to win ballgames doing that kind of stuff," said Indians manager Manny Acta.

The Yankees scored three runs off Chad Durbin in the eighth inning for their 9-1 lead. Gardner tripled leading off and Jeter hit an RBI single. Granderson had an RBI ground-rule double and Rodriguez added a run-scoring single.

Logan, Luis Ayala and Kevin Whelan combined to throw 2 1/3 scoreless innings for the Yankees.

Game Notes

Orlando Cabrera became the 262nd player in MLB history to reach 2,000 career hits and the 17th active player...Choo and Asdrubal Cabrera had two stolen bases apiece and Orlando Cabrera added one. Cleveland stole five bases for the first time since swiping six on September 21, 2000 against the Red Sox.