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Dellucci's pinch homer sinks Yankees

May 7, 2008 - 3:48 AM By Larry Fleisher PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- David Dellucci does not know if having a lot of pinch-hit home runs is necessarily a good thing. He just knows it is a opportunity to get some swings, and Tuesday he had a long one.

Dellucci hit a three-run home run off Joba Chamberlain as the Cleveland Indians rallied for a 5-3 victory over the New York Yankees on Tuesday night.

Held to five hits in seven innings and four outs away from another frustrating loss, the Indians got the clutch hit they needed when Dellucci crushed an 0-1 pitch from Chamberlain into the right field seats.

The home run sent the Indians to just their third win in five games and also marked their second win when trailing after seven innings.

"I don't know if that's a good thing that you hit a lot of pinch-hit home runs because that means you pinch-hit a whole lot," Dellucci said. "It's a tough role. It's a role that you have very little success in and my approach is to go up there and swing.

"It's a do-or-die situation. More often than not you don't come through because the statistics are against you. And you might as well get your hacks in, and that's what I did."

The statistics were certainly against most hitters that Chamberlain has faced in his brief career as a setup man for closer Mariano Rivera. He had allowed just three earned runs in 36 1/3 career innings before Tuesday and had not blown a save in the regular season.

That began to change when the Indians strung together some good at-bats ahead of Dellucci. Grady Sizemore led off with a walk and moved to second on Jamey Carroll's sacrifice before Jhonny Peralta drew another walk.

"He's a tough young pitcher," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "I felt we put up some good at-bats. That's really what I'll continue to stress and work on."

Chamberlain retired Ryan Garko on a flyout and seemed headed for another scoreless outing before Dellucci hit his 10th career pinch-hit home run.

It was Dellucci's first pinch-hit blast since June 13, 2006, off New York Mets reliever Aaron Heilman. He also joined Boston's Mike Lowell as the only two hitters to connect off Chamberlain.

"He's one of those guys who goes up there with confidence. I think he likes being up there in those situations," Wedge said. "Obviously, usually if you're pinch-hitting, there's something on the line there and he has had some good history. We really needed somebody to step up like that the way things have been going."

The home run left Chamberlain disappointed that he could not get the ball to Rivera.

"I'm mad at myself," Chamberlain said. "My job is to go out there and get the ball to Mo. I didn't do that. I let my team down."

It also surprised starter Yankees starter Andy Pettitte, since Chamberlain usually wiggles out of any trouble.

"He's done it so much, you really don't think he's going to give up a (hit) and he's going to get out of it, especially when he gets the second out. But Dellucci is a good fastball hitter," Pettitte said.

The homer also made a winner out of Rafael Perez, who tossed two scoreless innings. Jensen Lewis tossed a hitless eighth and Rafael Betancourt retired the side in order in the ninth for his third save.

The solid relief work came after Fausto Carmona allowed three runs and six hits in five innings. He also issued five walks for the fourth time in seven starts.

The home run also spoiled a solid outing by Andy Pettitte, who made his 400th career start. Pettitte allowed a two-run home run to Peralta among five hits in 6 1/3 innings.

The Yankees scored twice in the fourth off Carmona as slumping Jason Giambi had an RBI double and scored on struggling Robinson Cano's base hit.

New York's Hideki Matsui went 3-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.