• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Jeter doubles for No. 2,997, but Yanks lose

Jul 7, 2011 - 3:54 AM Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Derek Jeter doubled off the right field wall, moving within three notches of becoming the first player to reach 3,000 hits in a Yankees uniform.

But just like every other runner who reached base Wednesday night against Indians starter Justin Masterson, he was stranded on the paths.

Masterson (7-6) turned in a command performance, allowing just three hits and two walks in eight sparkling innings to lead Cleveland over New York, 5-3, in the finale of a three-game series.

Jeter's 2,997th hit came in the eighth inning and was his third since being activated off the disabled list Monday. He finished 1-for-3 with a walk.

"It seems like his balls moves probably as much as anyone we've seen," Jeter said of Masterson. "He's throwing 95, 95 mph all night, a lot of movement. We had three hits off him, I think one was off his fastball. So he pitched outstanding."

The Yankees scored all three of their runs in the ninth inning before closer Chris Perez shut the door.

Indians rookie Lonnie Chisenhall hit his first career homer, a solo blast in seventh off Yankees reliever Boone Logan, while Michael Brantley, Travis Hafner and Matt LaPorta each had two hits in the win.

Cleveland captured the first and third games to win the series.

Yankees starter Phil Hughes (0-2) was activated for his first appearance since going on the DL April 15 with a case of dead arm. The 25-year-old righty gave up two runs -- both in the first inning -- and six hits in five innings.

Masterson, who started the season 5-0 and then went winless in 11 consecutive outings, earned his second straight victory.

"I just kind of mixed and matched," Masterson said. "I was working inside, outside of the plate. It was the ability to control the ball over the zone and keep them off balance."

He fanned Jeter leading off the game, getting him to swing over a 2-2 sinker, then got him on a fly ball to center field in the third inning. Jeter drew a nine-pitch walk in the sixth before hitting a first-pitch double over Austin Kearns' head with one out in the eighth.

Jeter made it all the way to third base, the first Yankee to get that far against Masterson since the second inning. But he was stranded there when Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, playing the shift on the other side of second base, slid to stop Mark Teixeira's grounder for the final out.

Nick Swisher hit an RBI double off Vinnie Pestano in the ninth and two more runs scored on ground outs by Jorge Posada and Russell Martin before Perez fanned Brett Gardner to lock up his 21st save. Pestano was charged with all three runs.

Jeter will have a chance to reach the milestone at Yankee Stadium after the team returns home to start a four-game series against Tampa Bay on Friday.

Hughes' first inning since April 14 was a sloppy one as the Indians sent seven batters to the plate and scored two runs to take a 2-0 lead.

The first three batters reached when Brantley walked, Cabrera singled and Hafner smacked an RBI base hit to left field. Cabrera scored from second base on Hughes' wild pitch and the catcher Martin's wild throw down to third.

The Indians moved runners to third base in the fifth and sixth innings, but came up empty both times.

In the sixth, Logan replaced Luis Ayala on the mound for New York with runners at second and third and hit Hafner to load the bases. Alex Rodriguez made a diving stop in the hole at third base, throwing Carlos Santana out at first to end the inning.

Chisenhall homered with two outs in the seventh in a lefty-lefty matchup with Logan and the Indians scored twice in the eighth for a 5-0 lead.

Before the ninth inning, the Yankees were frustrated in every bid to score.

Rodriguez singled leading off the second inning and reached third, but was stranded there. Masterson struck out the side in the fourth and the Yankees didn't have another hit until Martin's two-out single in the fifth. Earlier that inning, Swisher sent a drive to left-center field that Grady Sizemore snared with a leaping catch against the wall.

Jeter flashed his glove on a diving stop of Kearns' grounder up the middle in the fourth, getting a force out at second base.

Game Notes

Jeter, in his 17th season, is trying to become the 28th player in MLB history with 3,000 hits...The Indians have won five of seven and will remain at home to start a four-game series against Toronto on Friday...Hughes made just three starts before going on the DL...The Yankees optioned pitcher Lance Pendleton to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and released pitcher Kanekoa Texeira.