, who won his seventh straight decision, limited New York to three hits and walked two.After giving up a pair of singles with one out in the third inning, the righty struck out Gary Sanchez to end the threat and then retired the next six hitters he faced over his last two innings.CC Sabathia (5-7) came off the injured list after being out with knee tendinitis, and the Indians scored four times against him in the second. Greg Allen plated the first run of the game on a grounder and then Freeman, who started at third in place of Jose Ramirez, sent a drive into the Yankees bullpen for his fourth home run and a 4-0 lead.Sabathia lasted three innings, allowing four runs and four hits while walking three and striking out five.It was the Yankees veteran lefty's first start since July 27 before he was placed on the 10-day IL. Sabathia is 0-3 in his last five starts, and hasn't won a game since June 24 against Toronto.Lindor hit 21st homer off Nestor Cortes Jr. in the fourth. Mercado increased the lead 6-0 with an RBI single in the sixth and added a two-run homer, his 10th, in the eighth to make it 8-2.New York's streak of 207 consecutive games without being shut out was in danger until DJ LeMahieu connected a two-run shot in the seventh. It was his 21st.The Yankees cut the deficit to 8-4 on a pair of run-scoring hits from LeMahieu and Aaron Judge off reliever Brad Hand in the ninth before he struck out Didi Gregorius and got Gio Urshela to fly out to end it.ON HIS WAY BACKRHP Luis Severino (right shoulder inflammation) returned to the Yankee Stadium mound as part of his rehabilitation program and threw a 15-pitch simulated game with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and Boone looking on. The 25-year-old, who is recuperating from an injured right rotator cuff, faced assistant hitting coach P. J. Pilittere, who hit a changeup back at him, and bullpen catcher Radley Hadaad shortly after going through a 25-pitch bullpen session.''It's something different. You want to visualize the batters at home plate that way they can see what's going on,'' said Severino, who has not appeared in a game this season after going 19-8 in 2018.''You're just not throwing at the mitt, they're out there looking, making swings. So right there you know the progress you're making, whether the pitches are moving,'' he said.Severino, who suffered a lat muscle injury in spring training, will report to Tampa, Florida, this week to continue his rehab program and is expected to throw in another simulated game. He said he hopes to make a start in ''high'' Class A before moving on to Double-A.''You can tell just talking to Sevy how good he feels and this has been building now for a while where he's starting to really start to gain some confidence in his mind about being sound, being sharp, being healthy and continuing to take these next steps,'' Boone said.TRAINER'S ROOMIndians: RHP Corey Kluber (right ulna fracture) was slated to make his third minor league rehab start Sunday for Triple-A Columbus.Yankees: 1B-DH Luke Voit will join (sports hernia) will join Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to continue his rehabilitation program. He's expected to play in games beginning Thursday. . INF Thairo Estrada (strained right hamstring) was placed on a 10-day injured list. INF-OF Tyler Wade was recalled from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. . RHP Dellin Betances (right shoulder impingement) threw bullpen session and will head to Tampa, where he'll have a ramped up bullpen session, throwing 15 and 10 pitches, respectively, in two separate sessions Tuesday.UP NEXTIndians: Shane Bieber (12-5, 3.27 ERA) continues Cleveland's week-long visit in New York City with the start of a three-game set at the New York Mets on Tuesday. The right-hander is 8-2 with a 2.77 ERA over 12 appearances on the road this season.Yankees: New York opens up a nine-game, three-city road trip at Oakland on Tuesday with Domingo German (16-2, 3.96 ERA) on the mound for the first of three games. He is 7-0 in his last eight starts since coming off the injured list on July 3.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Yanks hope to stay hot, cool tempers in finale vs. IndiansFLMWhile the New York Yankees are piling up wins in their quest to attain the best record in the American League, they are struggling to maintain their composure at times with umpires.In the last month, New York has been involved in three wild arguments with umpires - all over balls and strikes.Despite the wild argument that resulted in three ejections Saturday, the Yankees are in position to get another series victory Sunday afternoon when they conclude a four-game set with the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium.The Yankees are 15-3 in their last 18 games and have rebounded from a 19-5 pummeling in the series opener to record consecutive one-run victories. They hit four homers in Saturday's 6-5 win, two by Gleyber Torres, but it was overshadowed by manager Aaron Boone getting ejected by plate umpire Ben May and CC Sabathia and Brett Gardner getting tossed by first base umpire Phil Cuzzi.That gave the Yankees seven ejections this season with five coming since the All-Star break.On July 18, Boone was ejected by rookie umpire Brennan Miller in a profane rant that went viral when he described his hitters as "savages in the box." On Aug. 9, Gardner was ejected when Chris Segal thought it was him arguing from the dugout on a strikeout of Cameron Maybin.On Saturday, the mayhem occurred on a called strike three that Maybin thought was outside in the sixth inning immediately after Torres hit his second homer. Boone was tossed by May; Gardner banged his bat on the dugout roof and Sabathia was tossed."Look we're playing for a lot right now and you can feel that with all our guys and we're in this thing, we're playing for keeps," Boone said.Cleveland heads into Sunday hoping to avoid losing consecutive series for the first time since May 20-26 against Oakland and Tampa Bay. Although Cleveland is 29-13 since June 30 and 44-21 since June 4, it has lost four of its last five games.Carlos Santana drove in three runs Saturday and is 6-for-12 in the series."Their lineup, if you make a mistake, man, they just, they're not trying to shoot the hole between first and second, they're trying to hit that Modell's sign (in right field)," Indians manager Terry Francona said of the Yankees.Sabathia (5-6, 4.78) will be activated off the injured list after missing 21 games due to right knee inflammation. Sabathia was cleared to return after successfully throwing a bullpen session on Tuesday and is making his first start since July 27 in Boston when he allowed five runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings.Sabathia was 0-2 with an 8.79 ERA in his three starts before beginning a second injured list stint. He also missed nine games with the same injury earlier this season.Sabathia is 4-4 with a 3.78 ERA in 14 career starts against the Indians, who drafted him in the first round in 1998.Mike Clevinger (7-2, 3.34) starts for Cleveland and seeks his seventh straight victory. Since June 28, he is 6-0 with a 2.39 ERA in his last eight starts.Clevinger last pitched Tuesday and took a no-decision against Boston when he allowed four runs on a career-worst 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings, matching his second-shortest start this season.The right-hander is 0-1 with a 5.65 ERA in three career appearances (two starts) against the Yankees. He last pitched in New York on May 6, 2018, when he struck out 10 in 7 1/3 innings in a game the Yankees won on a walk-off homer by Torres.--Field Level Media
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