GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: CLEVELAND (2-1) at NY YANKEES (1-2)

AL: CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">AL AT NY YANKEES - PITCHING CHANGE
CLE: RAFAEL BETANCOURT (0-0, 0.00) STARTING THE 8TH
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 3

DUE UP FOR NYYANKEES: M CABRERA (.200, 1-FOR-3)</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">AL AT NY YANKEES - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: R Betancourt relieved R Perez.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 6
NY YANKEES 3 BOTTOM, 8TH

DUE UP FOR NY YANKEES: M Cabrera (.200, 1-FOR-3)</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">AL AT NY YANKEES - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: J Giambi hit for S Duncan.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 6
NY YANKEES 3 BOTTOM, 8TH

DUE UP FOR NY YANKEES: J Giambi (.333, 0 HR, 0 RBI)</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">AL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CLEVELAND 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 6 11 0
NY YANKEES 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 11 0 (TOP 9)

CURRENT PITCHERS: CLE - RAFAEL BETANCOURT
NYY - MARIANO RIVERA

DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: V MARTINEZ (.313, 1-FOR-4, 2 RBI)
J PERALTA (.429, 2-FOR-3, BB, RBI)
K LOFTON (.400, 0-FOR-4)</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">CLEVELAND (6) VS NY YANKEES (3) - END 8TH - IN PROGRESS

CLEVELAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
G Sizemore cf 3 2 2 1 2 0 1 .375
A Cabrera 2b 4 0 1 1 0 0 2 .176
T Hafner dh 3 1 1 0 2 0 3 .250
V Martinez 1b 4 0 1 2 0 1 2 .313
J Peralta ss 3 0 2 1 1 0 2 .429
K Lofton lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 .400
F Gutierrez rf 4 1 1 0 0 2 2 .222
C Blake 3b 4 1 1 0 0 3 1 .125
K Shoppach c 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 .667

Totals 32 6 11 5 5 6 16

BATTING: 2B - K Shoppach 2 (2, M Mussina, J Veras). HR - G Sizemore (1, 1st
inning off C Wang 0 on, 0 Out). S - A Cabrera. RBI - G Sizemore (1), J Peralta
(2), A Cabrera (2), V Martinez 2 (4). 2-out RBI - J Peralta, A Cabrera. Runners
left in scoring position, 2 out - T Hafner 1, V Martinez 1. GIDP - G Sizemore,
J Peralta. Team LOB - 9.

FIELDING: DP: 1 (A Cabrera-J Peralta-V Martinez).


NY YANKEES ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Damon lf 5 0 1 0 0 1 4 .278
D Jeter ss 4 0 2 1 0 0 3 .188
B Abreu rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 3 .214
A Rodriguez 3b 4 1 2 1 0 2 2 .286
J Posada c 4 0 1 0 0 0 3 .143
H Matsui dh 2 1 0 0 2 0 1 .182
R Cano 2b 4 1 2 1 0 0 2 .333
M Cabrera cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .188
D Mientkiewicz 1b 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 .000
a-S Duncan ph-1b 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .500
b-J Giambi ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .250

Totals 34 3 11 3 3 5 21

a-singled to shallow center for D Mientkiewicz in the 6th; b-struck out
swinging for S Duncan in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - J Posada (1, P Byrd). HR - R Cano (2, 6th inning off P Byrd 0 on,
0 Out), A Rodriguez (1, 7th inning off R Perez 0 on, 1 Out). RBI - D Jeter (1),
R Cano (3), A Rodriguez (1). 2-out RBI - D Jeter. Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - J Posada 1, B Abreu 2, R Cano 1. GIDP - D Jeter. Team LOB -
10.

FIELDING: DP: 2 (R Cano-D Jeter-D Mientkiewicz, A Rodriguez-D Mientkiewicz).



----------------------------------------------------
CLEVELAND - 220 200 00 -- 6
NY YANKEES - 010 001 10 -- 3
----------------------------------------------------

CLEVELAND ip h r er bb so hr era
P Byrd 5 8 2 2 2 2 1 3.60
R Perez 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 1.50
R Betancourt 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.00

NY YANKEES ip h r er bb so hr era
C Wang 1 5 4 4 0 0 1 19.06
M Mussina 4 2/3 4 2 2 4 3 0 3.86
R Villone 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
K Farnsworth 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0.00
J Veras 1/3 1 0 0 1 1 0 0.00
M Rivera 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00

C Wang pitched to 3 batters in the 2nd.
P Byrd pitched to 1 batter in the 6th.

IBB - T Hafner (by M Mussina), G Sizemore (by J Veras). HBP - K Shoppach (by
C Wang). Pitches-strikes: P Byrd 77-52; R Perez 34-20; R Betancourt 12-10; C
Wang 32-20; M Mussina 83-46; R Villone 5-3; K Farnsworth 20-14; J Veras 10-4; M
Rivera 4-4. Ground balls-fly balls: P Byrd 3-10; R Perez 5-0; R Betancourt 1-0;
C Wang 3-0; M Mussina 6-5; R Villone 0-1; K Farnsworth 0-1; J Veras 0-0; M
Rivera 2-0. Batters faced: P Byrd 25; R Perez 9; R Betancourt 3; C Wang 9; M
Mussina 20; R Villone 1; K Farnsworth 4; J Veras 3; M Rivera 2.

UMPIRES: HP--Fieldin Culbreth. 1B--Gerry Davis. 2B--Jim Wolf. 3B--Bruce
Froemming. LF--Laz Diaz. RF--Ron Kulpa.

Weather: 87 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 2 mph, left to right.</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">AL AT NY YANKEES - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: J Giambi at first base.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 6
NY YANKEES 3 TOP, 9TH

DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: V Martinez (.313, 1-FOR-4, 2 RBI)</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">AL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CLEVELAND 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 6 13 0
NY YANKEES 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 11 0 (BOT 9)

CURRENT PITCHERS: CLE - RAFAEL BETANCOURT
NYY - MARIANO RIVERA

DUE UP FOR NY YANKEES: D JETER (.188, 2-FOR-4, RBI)
B ABREU (.214, 1-FOR-4)
A RODRIGUEZ (.286, 2-FOR-4, HR, RBI)</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">CLEVELAND (6) VS NY YANKEES (3) - MID 9TH - IN PROGRESS

CLEVELAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
G Sizemore cf 3 2 2 1 2 0 1 .375
A Cabrera 2b 4 0 1 1 0 0 2 .176
T Hafner dh 3 1 1 0 2 0 3 .250
V Martinez 1b 5 0 2 2 0 1 2 .353
J Peralta ss 4 0 3 1 1 0 2 .467
K Lofton lf 5 0 0 0 0 0 4 .375
F Gutierrez rf 5 1 1 0 0 3 4 .200
C Blake 3b 5 1 1 0 0 3 3 .118
K Shoppach c 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 .667

Totals 37 6 13 5 5 7 21

BATTING: 2B - K Shoppach 2 (2, M Mussina, J Veras). HR - G Sizemore (1, 1st
inning off C Wang 0 on, 0 Out). S - A Cabrera. RBI - G Sizemore (1), J Peralta
(2), A Cabrera (2), V Martinez 2 (4). 2-out RBI - J Peralta, A Cabrera. Runners
left in scoring position, 2 out - T Hafner 1, V Martinez 1, C Blake 1. GIDP - G
Sizemore, J Peralta. Team LOB - 11.

FIELDING: DP: 1 (A Cabrera-J Peralta-V Martinez).


NY YANKEES ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Damon lf 5 0 1 0 0 1 4 .278
D Jeter ss 4 0 2 1 0 0 3 .188
B Abreu rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 3 .214
A Rodriguez 3b 4 1 2 1 0 2 2 .286
J Posada c 4 0 1 0 0 0 3 .143
H Matsui dh 2 1 0 0 2 0 1 .182
R Cano 2b 4 1 2 1 0 0 2 .333
M Cabrera cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .188
D Mientkiewicz 1b 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 .000
a-S Duncan ph-1b 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .500
b-J Giambi ph-1b 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .250

Totals 34 3 11 3 3 5 21

a-singled to shallow center for D Mientkiewicz in the 6th; b-struck out
swinging for S Duncan in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - J Posada (1, P Byrd). HR - R Cano (2, 6th inning off P Byrd 0 on,
0 Out), A Rodriguez (1, 7th inning off R Perez 0 on, 1 Out). RBI - D Jeter (1),
R Cano (3), A Rodriguez (1). 2-out RBI - D Jeter. Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - J Posada 1, B Abreu 2, R Cano 1. GIDP - D Jeter. Team LOB -
10.

FIELDING: DP: 2 (R Cano-D Jeter-D Mientkiewicz, A Rodriguez-D Mientkiewicz).



----------------------------------------------------
CLEVELAND - 220 200 000 -- 6
NY YANKEES - 010 001 10 -- 3
----------------------------------------------------

CLEVELAND ip h r er bb so hr era
P Byrd 5 8 2 2 2 2 1 3.60
R Perez 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 1.50
R Betancourt 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.00

NY YANKEES ip h r er bb so hr era
C Wang 1 5 4 4 0 0 1 19.06
M Mussina 4 2/3 4 2 2 4 3 0 3.86
R Villone 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
K Farnsworth 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0.00
J Veras 1/3 1 0 0 1 1 0 0.00
M Rivera 1 2/3 2 0 0 0 1 0 0.00

C Wang pitched to 3 batters in the 2nd.
P Byrd pitched to 1 batter in the 6th.

IBB - T Hafner (by M Mussina), G Sizemore (by J Veras). HBP - K Shoppach (by
C Wang). Pitches-strikes: P Byrd 77-52; R Perez 34-20; R Betancourt 12-10; C
Wang 32-20; M Mussina 83-46; R Villone 5-3; K Farnsworth 20-14; J Veras 10-4; M
Rivera 18-14. Ground balls-fly balls: P Byrd 3-10; R Perez 5-0; R Betancourt
1-0; C Wang 3-0; M Mussina 6-5; R Villone 0-1; K Farnsworth 0-1; J Veras 0-0; M
Rivera 3-1. Batters faced: P Byrd 25; R Perez 9; R Betancourt 3; C Wang 9; M
Mussina 20; R Villone 1; K Farnsworth 4; J Veras 3; M Rivera 7.

UMPIRES: HP--Fieldin Culbreth. 1B--Gerry Davis. 2B--Jim Wolf. 3B--Bruce
Froemming. LF--Laz Diaz. RF--Ron Kulpa.

Weather: 87 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 2 mph, left to right.</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">AL AT NY YANKEES - PITCHING CHANGE
CLE: JOE BOROWSKI (0-0, 0.00) STARTING THE 9TH
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 3

DUE UP FOR NYYANKEES: D JETER (.188, 2-FOR-4, RBI)</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">AL AT NY YANKEES - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: J Borowski relieved R Betancourt.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 6
NY YANKEES 3 BOTTOM, 9TH

DUE UP FOR NY YANKEES: D Jeter (.188, 2-FOR-4, RBI)</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">AL AT NY YANKEES PLAYOFFS - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY BOBBY ABREU (1) TO RIGHT WITH 1 OUT IN THE
9TH OFF JOE BOROWSKI.
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 4

DUE UP FOR NY YANKEES: A RODRIGUEZ (.286, 2-FOR-4, HR, RBI)</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CLEVELAND 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 6 13 0
NY YANKEES 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 4 12 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: CLE - PAUL BYRD, RAFAEL PEREZ (6TH), RAFAEL BETANCOURT (8TH), JOE
BOROWSKI (9TH) AND KELLY SHOPPACH

NYY - CHIEN-MING WANG, MIKE MUSSINA (2ND), RON VILLONE
(6TH), KYLE FARNSWORTH (7TH), JOSE VERAS (8TH), MARIANO RIVERA
(8TH) AND JORGE POSADA

HOME RUNS: CLE - GRADY SIZEMORE (1) OFF CHIEN-MING WANG IN THE 1ST, 0 ON

NYY - ROBINSON CANO (2) OFF PAUL BYRD IN THE 6TH, 0 ON
ALEX RODRIGUEZ (1) OFF RAFAEL PEREZ IN THE 7TH, 0 ON
BOBBY ABREU (1) OFF JOE BOROWSKI IN THE 9TH, 0 ON</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CLEVELAND 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 6 13 0
NY YANKEES 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 4 12 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: CLE - PAUL BYRD, RAFAEL PEREZ (6TH), RAFAEL BETANCOURT (8TH), JOE
BOROWSKI (9TH) AND KELLY SHOPPACH

NYY - CHIEN-MING WANG, MIKE MUSSINA (2ND), RON VILLONE
(6TH), KYLE FARNSWORTH (7TH), JOSE VERAS (8TH), MARIANO RIVERA
(8TH) AND JORGE POSADA


WP - PAUL BYRD (1-0)
LP - CHIEN-MING WANG (0-2)
SAVE - JOE BOROWSKI (1)

HOME RUNS: CLE - GRADY SIZEMORE (1) OFF CHIEN-MING WANG IN THE 1ST, 0 ON

NYY - ROBINSON CANO (2) OFF PAUL BYRD IN THE 6TH, 0 ON
ALEX RODRIGUEZ (1) OFF RAFAEL PEREZ IN THE 7TH, 0 ON
BOBBY ABREU (1) OFF JOE BOROWSKI IN THE 9TH, 0 ON


TIME: 4:03 ATT: 56,315

PROBABLES:</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">CLEVELAND (6) VS NY YANKEES (4) - FINAL

CLEVELAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
G Sizemore cf 3 2 2 1 2 0 1 .375
A Cabrera 2b 4 0 1 1 0 0 2 .176
T Hafner dh 3 1 1 0 2 0 3 .250
V Martinez 1b 5 0 2 2 0 1 2 .353
J Peralta ss 4 0 3 1 1 0 2 .467
K Lofton lf 5 0 0 0 0 0 4 .375
F Gutierrez rf 5 1 1 0 0 3 4 .200
C Blake 3b 5 1 1 0 0 3 3 .118
K Shoppach c 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 .667

Totals 37 6 13 5 5 7 21

BATTING: 2B - K Shoppach 2 (2, M Mussina, J Veras). HR - G Sizemore (1, 1st
inning off C Wang 0 on, 0 Out). S - A Cabrera. RBI - G Sizemore (1), J Peralta
(2), A Cabrera (2), V Martinez 2 (4). 2-out RBI - J Peralta, A Cabrera. Runners
left in scoring position, 2 out - T Hafner 1, V Martinez 1, C Blake 1. GIDP - G
Sizemore, J Peralta. Team LOB - 11.

FIELDING: DP: 1 (A Cabrera-J Peralta-V Martinez).


NY YANKEES ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Damon lf 5 0 1 0 0 1 4 .278
D Jeter ss 5 0 2 1 0 0 3 .176
B Abreu rf 5 1 2 1 0 1 3 .267
A Rodriguez 3b 5 1 2 1 0 2 2 .267
J Posada c 5 0 1 0 0 1 3 .133
H Matsui dh 2 1 0 0 2 0 1 .182
R Cano 2b 4 1 2 1 0 0 2 .333
M Cabrera cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .188
D Mientkiewicz 1b 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 .000
a-S Duncan ph-1b 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .500
b-J Giambi ph-1b 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .250

Totals 38 4 12 4 3 6 21

a-singled to shallow center for D Mientkiewicz in the 6th; b-struck out
swinging for S Duncan in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - J Posada (1, P Byrd). HR - R Cano (2, 6th inning off P Byrd 0 on,
0 Out), A Rodriguez (1, 7th inning off R Perez 0 on, 1 Out), B Abreu (1, 9th
inning off J Borowski 0 on, 1 Out). RBI - D Jeter (1), R Cano (3), A Rodriguez
(1), B Abreu (2). 2-out RBI - D Jeter. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out
- J Posada 1, B Abreu 2, R Cano 1. GIDP - D Jeter. Team LOB - 10.

FIELDING: DP: 2 (R Cano-D Jeter-D Mientkiewicz, A Rodriguez-D Mientkiewicz).



----------------------------------------------------
CLEVELAND - 220 200 000 -- 6
NY YANKEES - 010 001 101 -- 4
----------------------------------------------------

CLEVELAND ip h r er bb so hr era
P Byrd (W, 1-0) 5 8 2 2 2 2 1 3.60
R Perez 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 1.50
R Betancourt (H, 1) 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.00
J Borowski (S, 1) 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 4.50

NY YANKEES ip h r er bb so hr era
C Wang (L, 0-2) 1 5 4 4 0 0 1 19.06
M Mussina 4 2/3 4 2 2 4 3 0 3.86
R Villone 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
K Farnsworth 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0.00
J Veras 1/3 1 0 0 1 1 0 0.00
M Rivera 1 2/3 2 0 0 0 1 0 0.00

C Wang pitched to 3 batters in the 2nd.
P Byrd pitched to 1 batter in the 6th.

IBB - T Hafner (by M Mussina), G Sizemore (by J Veras). HBP - K Shoppach (by
C Wang). Pitches-strikes: P Byrd 77-52; R Perez 34-20; R Betancourt 12-10; J
Borowski 15-10; C Wang 32-20; M Mussina 83-46; R Villone 5-3; K Farnsworth
20-14; J Veras 10-4; M Rivera 18-14. Ground balls-fly balls: P Byrd 3-10; R
Perez 5-0; R Betancourt 1-0; J Borowski 0-2; C Wang 3-0; M Mussina 6-5; R
Villone 0-1; K Farnsworth 0-1; J Veras 0-0; M Rivera 3-1. Batters faced: P Byrd
25; R Perez 9; R Betancourt 3; J Borowski 4; C Wang 9; M Mussina 20; R Villone
1; K Farnsworth 4; J Veras 3; M Rivera 7.

UMPIRES: HP--Fieldin Culbreth. 1B--Gerry Davis. 2B--Jim Wolf. 3B--Bruce
Froemming. LF--Laz Diaz. RF--Ron Kulpa.

T--4:03. Att--56,315.
Weather: 87 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 2 mph, left
to right.</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
AL
CLEVELAND 6
NY YANKEES 4 FINAL</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CLEVELAND (6) AT NY YANKEES (4) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CLEVELAND 1ST: G Sizemore homered to right center. A Cabrera grounded out
to first. T Hafner singled to left. V Martinez grounded out to pitcher,
T Hafner to second. J Peralta singled to center, T Hafner scored. K Lofton
grounded out to pitcher. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 2, NY YANKEES 0.

CLEVELAND 2ND: F Gutierrez singled to center. C Blake singled to left,
F Gutierrez to second. K Shoppach hit by pitch, F Gutierrez to third, C Blake to
second. M Mussina relieved C Wang. G Sizemore grounded into double play,
second to shortstop to first, F Gutierrez scored, K Shoppach out at second,
C Blake to third. A Cabrera singled to center, C Blake scored. T Hafner walked,
A Cabrera to second. V Martinez grounded out to second. (2 Runs, 3 Hits,
0 Errors) CLEVELAND 4, NY YANKEES 0.

NY YANKEES 2ND: H Matsui walked. R Cano singled to center, H Matsui to
second. M Cabrera popped out to third. D Mientkiewicz walked, H Matsui to
third, R Cano to second. J Damon popped out to shortstop. D Jeter reached on
infield single to third, H Matsui scored, R Cano to third, D Mientkiewicz
to second. B Abreu flied out to center. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 4,
NY YANKEES 1.

CLEVELAND 4TH: K Shoppach hit a ground rule double to deep left center.
G Sizemore walked. A Cabrera sacrificed to pitcher, K Shoppach to third,
G Sizemore to second. T Hafner intentionally walked. V Martinez singled to
left, K Shoppach and G Sizemore scored, T Hafner to second. J Peralta grounded
into double play, third to first, T Hafner out at third.(2 Runs, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 1.

NY YANKEES 6TH: R Cano homered to right. R Perez relieved P Byrd.
M Cabrera grounded out to third. S Duncan hit for D Mientkiewicz. S Duncan
singled to shallow center. J Damon singled to right, S Duncan to third.
D Jeter grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, J Damon out at
second.(1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 2.

NY YANKEES 7TH: B Abreu struck out swinging. A Rodriguez homered to left
center. J Posada grounded out to third. H Matsui walked. R Cano grounded out
to first. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 3.

NY YANKEES 9TH: J Borowski relieved R Betancourt. D Jeter popped out to
second. B Abreu homered to right. A Rodriguez flied out to right. J Posada
struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 4.</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CLEVELAND 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 6 13 0
NY YANKEES 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 4 12 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: CLE - PAUL BYRD, RAFAEL PEREZ (6TH), RAFAEL BETANCOURT (8TH), JOE
BOROWSKI (9TH) AND KELLY SHOPPACH

NYY - CHIEN-MING WANG, MIKE MUSSINA (2ND), RON VILLONE
(6TH), KYLE FARNSWORTH (7TH), JOSE VERAS (8TH), MARIANO RIVERA
(8TH) AND JORGE POSADA


WP - PAUL BYRD (1-0)
LP - CHIEN-MING WANG (0-2)
SAVE - JOE BOROWSKI (1)

HOME RUNS: CLE - GRADY SIZEMORE (1) OFF CHIEN-MING WANG IN THE 1ST, 0 ON

NYY - ROBINSON CANO (2) OFF PAUL BYRD IN THE 6TH, 0 ON
ALEX RODRIGUEZ (1) OFF RAFAEL PEREZ IN THE 7TH, 0 ON
BOBBY ABREU (1) OFF JOE BOROWSKI IN THE 9TH, 0 ON


TIME: 4:03 ATT: 56,315</div>

 

AL: CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CLEVELAND (6) AT NY YANKEES (4) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cleveland Starting Lineups -- G Sizemore CF, A Cabrera 2B, T Hafner DH,
V Martinez 1B, J Peralta SS, K Lofton LF, F Gutierrez RF, C Blake 3B, K Shoppach C,
P Byrd RHP.

Ny Yankees Starting Lineups -- J Damon LF, D Jeter SS, B Abreu RF, A Rodriguez 3B,
J Posada C, H Matsui DH, R Cano 2B, M Cabrera CF, D Mientkiewicz 1B, C Wang RHP.

Umpires -- Fieldin Culbreth (HP), Gerry Davis (1B), Jim Wolf (2B),
Bruce Froemming (3B), Laz Diaz (LF), Ron Kulpa (RF).

Gametime Weather: 87 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind left to right at 2 mph.


CLEVELAND 1ST: G Sizemore homered to right center. A Cabrera grounded out
to first. T Hafner singled to left. V Martinez grounded out to pitcher,
T Hafner to second. J Peralta singled to center, T Hafner scored. K Lofton
grounded out to pitcher. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 2, NY YANKEES 0.

NY YANKEES 1ST: J Damon grounded out to shortstop. D Jeter singled to
right. B Abreu singled to right center, D Jeter to second. A Rodriguez struck
out swinging. J Posada flied out to left. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
CLEVELAND 2, NY YANKEES 0.

CLEVELAND 2ND: F Gutierrez singled to center. C Blake singled to left,
F Gutierrez to second. K Shoppach hit by pitch, F Gutierrez to third, C Blake to
second. M Mussina relieved C Wang. G Sizemore grounded into double play,
second to shortstop to first, F Gutierrez scored, K Shoppach out at second,
C Blake to third. A Cabrera singled to center, C Blake scored. T Hafner walked,
A Cabrera to second. V Martinez grounded out to second. (2 Runs, 3 Hits,
0 Errors) CLEVELAND 4, NY YANKEES 0.

NY YANKEES 2ND: H Matsui walked. R Cano singled to center, H Matsui to
second. M Cabrera popped out to third. D Mientkiewicz walked, H Matsui to
third, R Cano to second. J Damon popped out to shortstop. D Jeter reached on
infield single to third, H Matsui scored, R Cano to third, D Mientkiewicz
to second. B Abreu flied out to center. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 4,
NY YANKEES 1.

CLEVELAND 3RD: J Peralta walked. K Lofton flied out to center.
F Gutierrez struck out looking. C Blake struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) CLEVELAND 4, NY YANKEES 1.

NY YANKEES 3RD: A Rodriguez struck out looking. J Posada doubled to deep
right center. H Matsui grounded out to first, J Posada to third. R Cano flied
out to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 4, NY YANKEES 1.

CLEVELAND 4TH: K Shoppach hit a ground rule double to deep left center.
G Sizemore walked. A Cabrera sacrificed to pitcher, K Shoppach to third,
G Sizemore to second. T Hafner intentionally walked. V Martinez singled to
left, K Shoppach and G Sizemore scored, T Hafner to second. J Peralta grounded
into double play, third to first, T Hafner out at third.(2 Runs, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 1.

NY YANKEES 4TH: M Cabrera singled to center. D Mientkiewicz popped out to
shortstop. J Damon flied out to right. D Jeter lined out to third. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 1.

CLEVELAND 5TH: K Lofton flied out to center. F Gutierrez flied out to
center. C Blake struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 6,
NY YANKEES 1.

NY YANKEES 5TH: B Abreu grounded out to first. A Rodriguez singled to
left. J Posada lined out to second. H Matsui popped out to shortstop.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 1.

CLEVELAND 6TH: K Shoppach flied out to right. G Sizemore reached on
infield single to first. A Cabrera flied out to center. R Villone relieved
M Mussina. T Hafner flied out to left. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 6,
NY YANKEES 1.

NY YANKEES 6TH: R Cano homered to right. R Perez relieved P Byrd.
M Cabrera grounded out to third. S Duncan hit for D Mientkiewicz. S Duncan
singled to shallow center. J Damon singled to right, S Duncan to third.
D Jeter grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, J Damon out at
second.(1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 2.

CLEVELAND 7TH: S Duncan at first base. K Farnsworth relieved R Villone.
V Martinez struck out swinging. J Peralta singled to left. K Lofton flied out
to center. F Gutierrez struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 2.

NY YANKEES 7TH: B Abreu struck out swinging. A Rodriguez homered to left
center. J Posada grounded out to third. H Matsui walked. R Cano grounded out
to first. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 3.

CLEVELAND 8TH: J Veras relieved K Farnsworth. C Blake struck out looking.
K Shoppach doubled to deep center. G Sizemore intentionally walked. M Rivera
relieved J Veras. A Cabrera grounded into fielder's choice to second,
G Sizemore out at second, K Shoppach to third. T Hafner grounded out to
shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 3.

NY YANKEES 8TH: R Betancourt relieved R Perez. M Cabrera grounded out to
shortstop. J Giambi hit for S Duncan. J Giambi struck out swinging. J Damon
struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 3.

CLEVELAND 9TH: J Giambi at first base. V Martinez singled to center.
J Peralta singled to right, V Martinez to second. K Lofton grounded into
fielder's choice to shortstop, J Peralta out at second, V Martinez to third.
F Gutierrez struck out swinging. C Blake flied out to left. (0 Runs, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 3.

NY YANKEES 9TH: J Borowski relieved R Betancourt. D Jeter popped out to
second. B Abreu homered to right. A Rodriguez flied out to right. J Posada
struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 4.</div>

 

Byrd, Indians shock Yankees and advance to ALCS

<h3>CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 4</h3>By Larry Fleisher
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


BRONX, New York (Ticker) - One manager elected to start his aceon three days rest, and the other handed the ball to his No. 4man. The one who decided to have confidence in his fourthstarter now has a date with the Boston Red Sox.


Paul Byrd allowed two runs and eight hits in five-plus inningsand the Cleveland Indians advanced to the American LeagueChampionship Series with a 6-4 victory over the New York Yankeeson Monday night.


Grady Sizemore homered and Victor Martinez drove in a pair forthe Indians, who won the best-of-five AL Division Series threegames to one.


Byrd struck out two and walked two while throwing 52 of his 77pitches for strikes. He worked his way out of trouble in eachof the first three innings, getting fly-ball outs with runnersin scoring positions each time.


The veteran righthander won 15 games in the regular season, buthas struggled against the Yankees throughout his career. Thatled to numerous questions for Cleveland manager Eric Wedge aboutwhy he was planning to start Byrd as opposed to ace C.C.Sabathia on three days rest.


Sabathia would have started Game Five on Wednesday but can nowhave over a week of rest when he faces the Red Sox.

Wedge remained firm in his confidence of Byrd, who posted a 4.59ERA during the regular season and allowed 239 hits in 192 1/3innings.


But his manager's confidence was rewarded, and the Indians willtravel to Boston for Game One of the American LeagueChampionship Series on Friday.


While that decision paid off, Yankees manager Joe Torre'sdecision to start Chien-Ming Wang on three days rest for thefirst time in the righthander's career failed miserably. Wanglasted just one-plus inning and allowed four runs and five hits.

Including a disastrous Game One outing in which he allowed eightruns in 4 2/3 frames, Wang closes out the ALDS with a 19.06 ERAin the series.


The Indians went ahead on the second pitch of the game whenSizemore homered into the right-center field bleachers. Theyadded another run on Jhonny Peralta's RBI single and scored twomore in the second when Mike Mussina relieved Wang with thebases loaded and no outs.


Wang came out after hitting Kelly Shoppach with a pitch.

Mussina, who would have originally started the game if Torre didnot select Wang, induced a double-play grounder from Sizemorethat scored a run before yielding a run-scoring single toAsdrubal Cabrera.


Cleveland added two more in the fourth inning after Mussinaintentionally walked Travis Hafner to load the bases with oneout.


The Indians had been hitless in 14 previous at-bats with runnersin scoring position and less than two outs and finally brokethrough when Victor Martinez grounded a two-run single into leftfield.


Mussina worked 4 2/3 innings and allowed two runs and four hitswhile walking four and striking out three.


The Yankees, who extended the series to a fourth game bypounding out eight runs on Sunday, scored their first run onDerek Jeter's infield single in the second. They had a chancefor more but Byrd retired Bobby Abreu on a long flyout to centerand stranded seven through the first five frames.


New York chased Byrd when Robinson Cano led off the sixth with ahome run to cut the deficit to 6-2.


<div class="pre">Wedge went to lefthander Rafael Perez, who gave up one-out</div>singles to pinch hitter Shelley Duncan and Johnny Damon to putrunners at the corners, but escaped the inning by inducing adouble play from Jeter.


The Yankees' captain, Jeter, failed to find his customarypostseason magic against the Indians, closing out the series3-for-13 with one RBI. He grounded into three double plays inthe series and struck out four times.


Rafael Betancourt struck out two in a perfect eighth inningbefore closer Joe Borowski made things interesting in the ninth,allowing a solo homer to Bobby Abreu before retiring AlexRodriguez and Posada.


The Yankees lost in the division series for the third straightseason and have dropped 12 of their last 16 postseason games.They might not have a chance to break their funk next seasonwith Torre, who, according to team owner George Steinbrenner,might not return for a 13th season.


Rodriguez, who finally broke out of his playoff power drought inthe seventh inning with a solo homer off Perez in the seventhto cut the deficit to 6-3, finished the series 4-for-15 withfive strikeouts.


Rodriguez also might not return next season. The probable AL MVPcould decide to opt out of the 10-year, $252 million deal hesigned with Texas following the 2000 season.

 

Byrd, Indians shock Yankees and advance to ALCS

<h3>CLEVELAND 6, NY YANKEES 4</h3>By Larry Fleisher
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- One manager elected to start his aceon three days rest, and the other handed the ball to his No. 4man. The one who decided to have confidence in his fourthstarter now has a date with the Boston Red Sox.


Paul Byrd allowed two runs and eight hits in five-plus inningsand the Cleveland Indians advanced to the American LeagueChampionship Series with a 6-4 victory over the New York Yankeeson Monday night.


Grady Sizemore homered and Victor Martinez drove in a pair forthe Indians, who won the best-of-five AL Division Series threegames to one and advanced to the ALCS for the first time since1998 and fourth time in franchise history.


Byrd struck out two and walked two while throwing 52 of his 77pitches for strikes. He worked his way out of trouble in eachof the first three innings, getting fly-ball outs with runnersin scoring positions each time.


"Paul did what he had to do," Cleveland leftfielder Kenny Loftonsaid. "He kept us in the game. He had some jams he got out ofwith some double plays and it was big. He don't throw the ball100 miles per hour but he goes out there and puts it in rightspots and got the job done."


"It's good," Sizemore said. "Paul's a great pitcher, who hasthrown well for us all year and he's been in this situationbefore and he knows how to win. He's one of those guys thatknows how to win. (Indians manager) Eric (Wedge), he didn'twant to change the game plan. Just because you're playing acertain team or in a certain situation you don't change what'sbeen working for you all year."


The veteran righthander won 15 games in the regular season, buthas struggled against the Yankees throughout his career. Thatled to numerous questions for Cleveland manager Eric Wedge aboutwhy he was planning to start Byrd as opposed to ace C.C.Sabathia on three days rest.


"That was the game plan all along that he was going with Paulregardless of what happened,"Indians closer Joe Borowski said."You live and die with your decisions. You make them and that'swhat happens. He had 15 wins this year, so it's not like youwere throwing somebody out there who had five innings all year.He's been out there, he's gone through it. So we all hadconfidence in him and he went out there and did a great job."

Sabathia would have started Game Five on Wednesday but can nowhave over a week of rest when he faces the Red Sox.

Wedge remained firm in his confidence of Byrd, who posted a 4.59ERA during the regular season and allowed 239 hits in 192 1/3innings.


"I'm happy for him and our guys," Wedge said. "The guy won 15games. He's been a very consistent starter for us.

Byrd, who made his fourth career postseason start, also admittedthat Wedge's loyalty added some extra confidence.


"It made me feel great," he said. "I just had confidence outthere in our team. We've played well as a team all year long."

But his manager's confidence was rewarded, and the Indians willtravel to Boston for Game One of the American LeagueChampionship Series on Friday.


While that decision paid off, Yankees manager Joe Torre'sdecision to start Chien-Ming Wang on three days rest for thefirst time in the righthander's career failed miserably. Wanglasted just one-plus inning and allowed four runs and five hits.

"I wasn't comfortable watching him," Torre said. "It justlooked like he was throwing the ball hard. But he got hurt(leaving) balls up. Usually you tell early with him, if he canget the ball down. They start beating it into the ground. Butthey didn't hit a lot of groundballs."


Including a disastrous Game One outing in which he allowed eightruns in 4 2/3 frames, Wang closes out the ALDS with a 19.06 ERAin the series.


The Indians went ahead on the second pitch of the game whenSizemore homered into the right-center field bleachers. Theyadded another run on Jhonny Peralta's RBI single and scored twomore in the second when Mike Mussina relieved Wang with thebases loaded and no outs.


Wang came out after hitting Kelly Shoppach with a pitch.

"In a short series, you have to play your best baseball, nodoubt," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "Obviouslywe didn't see the Wang here that we've seen all season."

Mussina, who would have originally started the game if Torre didnot select Wang, induced a double-play grounder from Sizemorethat scored a run before yielding a run-scoring single toAsdrubal Cabrera.


Cleveland added two more in the fourth inning after Mussinaintentionally walked Travis Hafner to load the bases with oneout.


The Indians had been hitless in 14 previous at-bats with runnersin scoring position and less than two outs and finally brokethrough when Victor Martinez grounded a two-run single into leftfield.


Mussina worked 4 2/3 innings and allowed two runs and four hitswhile walking four and striking out three.


The Yankees, who extended the series to a fourth game bypounding out eight runs on Sunday, scored their first run onDerek Jeter's infield single in the second. They had a chancefor more but Byrd retired Bobby Abreu on a long flyout to centerand stranded seven through the first five frames.


"I feel the temptation in those moments to try and strikesomebody out," Byrd said. "That's usually when I leave the ballover the middle of the plate, just trying to muscle it. So (Iwas) just trying to keep making the pitches, cutters, back doorsand got a few outs on changeups. But they really put thepressure on early."


New York chased Byrd when Robinson Cano led off the sixth with ahome run to cut the deficit to 6-2.


Wedge went to lefthander Rafael Perez, who gave up one-outsingles to pinch hitter Shelley Duncan and Johnny Damon to putrunners at the corners, but escaped the inning by inducing adouble play from Jeter.


The Yankees' captain, Jeter, failed to find his customarypostseason magic against the Indians, closing out the series3-for-17 with one RBI. He grounded into three double plays inthe series and struck out four times.


"It's tough," Jeter said. "It's tough on everyone when youlose. You put this much effort, put a lot of work in. For it toend this way is disappointing."


Rafael Betancourt struck out two in a perfect eighth inningbefore Borowski made things interesting in the ninth, allowing asolo homer to Bobby Abreu before retiring Alex Rodriguez andPosada.


The Yankees lost in the division series for the third straightseason and have dropped 12 of their last 16 postseason games.They might not have a chance to break their funk next seasonwith Torre, who, according to team owner George Steinbrenner,might not return for a 13th season.


"I wasn't expecting this," Yankees closer Mariano Rivera said."You have to give credit to the Cleveland Indians. They did atremendous job."


If Torre's time as the longest-tenured manager in Steinbrenner's34-year reign comes to an end, current hitting coach DonMattingly is among the leading candidates to take over the post.

"Let's see what happens in the next few days and you knowwhatever comes next you know if I have some options, I'll lookat it because I'm certainly not ready to move somewhere and notdo anything," Torre said. "I can tell you that."


Rodriguez, who finally broke out of his playoff power drought inthe seventh inning with a solo homer off Perez to cut thedeficit to 6-3, finished the series 4-for-15 with fivestrikeouts.


"It's not Joe's fault," Rodriguez said. "The players are atfault. The bottom line is we didn't get the job done. I'll tellyou one thing about this team, we left our hearts and souls outthere."


Rodriguez also might not return next season. The probable AL MVPcould decide to opt out of the 10-year, $252 million deal hesigned with Texas following the 2000 season.