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Indians hope to end skid in third test with Yanks

Jun 12, 2011 - 3:31 PM (Sports Network) - The Cleveland Indians try to bring an end to their current three-game slide this afternoon as they again take on New York in the third of four straight games at Yankee Stadium.

Cleveland, which in late May was still considered one of the hottest teams in the majors as it stood 15 games over .500 at 30-15, has won a total of just four games since and is now in a virtual tie with the Detroit Tigers for first place in the American League Central. The Tribe displayed a lack of offense and a lackluster defense on Saturday afternoon as the team dropped a 4-0 decision to the Yankees.

Indians starter Mitch Talbot was ejected for hitting Alex Rodriguez in the sixth, but not before he gave up two runs on four hits for an Indians club which has dropped eight of the last nine.

"This guy was throwing a great game. It was 2-0. It was baffling to me that he (home plate umpire Dan Iassogna) made that decision," said Indians manager Manny Acta of the ejection.

Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira each hit solo home runs for the hosts as they remained within two games of division-leading Boston in the American League East. Brett Gardner added a double for the Yankees, who have taken the first two games in the series after suffering a home sweep at the hands of the rival Red Sox.

New York starter Bartolo Colon pitched into the seventh inning to pick up his fifth win of the campaign, but departed prematurely with a strained left hamstring. The right-hander held Cleveland to two hits and a walk with six strikeouts over 6 2/3 scoreless frames.

"I don't think we'll really know until tomorrow," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi regarding Colon's status. "He pulled or stretched his lower hamstring. My guess is, he was trying to get over and push a little harder (because the grass was wet). I can't tell you exactly when he did it."

Heading to the mound for the Yankees this afternoon will be Freddy Garcia, who is aiming to even his record at 5-5 with the appearance. The right-hander had a two-game win streak snapped on Tuesday when he and the Yankees suffered the 6-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox.

Garcia made it through a mere 1 2/3 innings in the outing and was touched for four runs on four hits and three walks before being pulled.

Now in his 13th season in the majors, Garcia has a mark of 6-6 with a 4.06 ERA versus the Indians.

As for the Tribe, they'll be handing the ball to Josh Tomlin as he seeks his eighth win of the campaign. The second-year righty suffered his second loss in the last three outings on Monday when he permitted six runs on nine hits over the course of six innings in a 6-4 loss to Minnesota at home.

Tomlin, who began 2011 with a 6-1 mark and a 2.41 ERA, won his only previous appearance against the Yankees when he gave up one run on three hits over seven innings.

The Yankees, who have won seven of the last eight meetings with the Indians since last May, have been hitting home runs at an alarming rate thus far in 2011 with a total of 95 to lead the majors.

While it was expected that Teixeira (19 home runs) and Rodriguez (13) would certainly have their share of long balls, the biggest surprise has to be Granderson, who is now tied with Toronto's Jose Bautista for the league-lead with 20 home runs. Granderson is already well on his way to topping his total for home runs from last year when he had 24 and is far ahead of his single- season best of 30 set in his final year with the Detroit Tigers back in 2009.

A couple of other notable hitters to watch are Derek Jeter, who still needs nine more hits to reach 3,000 for his career, and Cleveland's Orlando Cabrera, who needs one more himself for 2,000 hits in his 15-year career.