The Cleveland Indians came up short for the 4th consecutive game on Tuesday night in New York, as a high-powered Yankees offense racked up 11 hits en route to a 6-4 victory.
Starter Justin Masterson managed to stay in the game for six innings and scattered seven hits throughout, but struck out just two batters for his lowest single game output in over two months. After tossing 16 scoreless innings to pick up victories in each of his last two starts, the 6-foot-6 Masterson fell to 4-7 on the year with the defeat.
For the Yankees in game two, righty Phil Hughes bounced back from a poor start on June 20 with 8.0 innings of shutout ball to pick up a well-deserved win. Hughes yielded just six hits during his outing and walked only a single batter before giving way to reliever Cory Wade in the ninth, who proceeded to serve up a Johnny Damon two-out RBI single that broke the shutout and paved the way for a nail-biting finish.
Still just one out away from a loss after Damon's clutch hit kept the game alive, Indians pinch hitter Jose Lopez proceeded to smash a three-run bomb to left field off a visibly-shaken Wade to quickly pull the game to 6-4. From there entered New York closer Rafael Soriano, a steady hand who needed just two pitches to pick up a wacky one-out save and thwart the Indians' extra-late comeback attempt.
The Indians plan to send Ubaldo Jimenez (7-5) to the mound on Wednesday to face Yankees left-handed pitching legend Andy Pettitte (3-3) for the pivotal third game of the series.
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