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Indians-Yankees Preview

May 28, 2010 - 5:16 AM By CHRIS ALTRUDA STATS Editor

Cleveland (17-28) at New York (28-18), 7:05 p.m. EDT

After playing archrivals and division leaders nearly every game this month, the New York Yankees finally get their chance at the lesser teams.

Enter the Cleveland Indians.

Ready to start a seven-game homestand against cellar-dwelling teams, the Yankees look to take advantage of a soft spot in their schedule as the Indians arrive for a four-game series starting Friday night.

New York (28-19) just completed a 9-11 stretch against teams that have winning records and are no worse than third in their respective divisions. That included five games against AL East nemesis Boston, a three-game set versus its crosstown rivals the Mets, eight total games against division frontrunners Minnesota and Tampa Bay, respectively, and a four-game series with Detroit - in second place in the AL Central.

The Yankees now get a chance to regroup at home, where they're 13-6, and also play a three-game set versus Baltimore as part of a run in which four of five series are against last-place teams.

They were denied a sweep of their three-game series at Minnesota on Thursday with an 8-2 defeat, but manager Joe Girardi saw the silver lining of splitting their six-game road trip.

"We won two games so I don't want to overlook that we beat a very good Minnesota Twins team two out of three," Girardi said. "We didn't win tonight and you'd love to have won tonight, but we get a chance to go home for a while and see what happens."

One player who appears poised to have a big homestand is first baseman Mark Teixeira. After a 1 for 20 slump dropped his average to .204 on Saturday, he has gone 6 for 16 in his last four games. Teixeira is a lifetime .367 hitter with 10 homers and 47 RBIs versus the Indians and hit three homers against them last year.

While Teixeira is starting to come around, Nick Swisher has hit well all month. He's batting .342 with six homers and 14 RBIs in May.

Phil Hughes (5-1, 2.72 ERA) opens the homestand for the Yankees trying to end a slump. After yielding six combined runs in his first six starts, the right-hander has given up nine in his last two and was beaten 5-3 by the Mets on Saturday.

"I threw a lot of fastballs out over the plate," said Hughes, who gave up four runs and a season-high eight hits in 5 2-3 innings. "I didn't have command of the corners. The last couple outings haven't been good, especially command."

The right-hander is 1-0 in two lifetime starts versus the Indians and did not get a decision in his lone outing against them in 2009.

The road may be a good place for Cleveland (17-28), which begin a 10-game road swing after completing a 2-6 homestand. The Indians dropped two of three to the Chicago White Sox, capped by a 5-4 loss Wednesday in which a three-run rally in the ninth inning fell short.

Cleveland is 9-14 on the road, a record that could be worse if not for Fausto Carmona (4-2, 3.45). The right-hander is 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA in four starts outside Cleveland, a stark contrast from last year when he was 2-6 with an 8.38 ERA in 11 road outings.

Carmona, though, struggled in losing to Cincinnati on Saturday, giving up five runs and seven hits in six innings of a 6-4 defeat. His only lifetime decision versus the Yankees was a victory April 18, 2009.