Game 91 Preview: Yankees-Indians Finale

Jul 5, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher David Phelps (41) pitches to the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. The Twins win 2-1 in 11 innings. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

The Yankees will play the final of a 4 game series in Cleveland on Thursday night. They defeated the Indians 5-4 in 14 innings last night thanks to a Jacoby Ellsbury home run in the top of the 14th. The win was the only good news for the Yankees yesterday as Masahiro Tanaka was placed on the 15-day DL and Carlos Beltran was scratched from the lineup with a broken nose.

David Phelps (3-4, 4.01 ERA) is on the mound for the Yankees tonight. He is 2-0 in his last 5 starts and has looked particularly good in his last 2 starts despite getting a no-decision. T.J. House (1-2, 4.24 ERA) is making the start for the Indians. The 24-year old lefty picked up his first win on Saturday and received some praise from Terry Francona.

“He’s pitched well enough to win before now,” Francona said according to ESPN. “But his first official win, I’m sure that’s very special.”

The Yankees have won 5 of their last 7 and are sitting at 2 games over .500 so winning the series on the road tonight would be big.

Game Notes:

Brett Gardner’s still on fire: Gardner has gotten on base in 23 straight games. He did not play last night, but he looks to make it 24 and keep his hot streak going tonight.

Yankees are looking good on the road: Tonight marks the 8th game of the Yankees 11-game road stretch. They can record the series win again and big up their 6th win of this road trip.

Texeira needs to keep hitting: Mark Texeira went 2-for-6 last night with 2 home runs. He has 8 hits and 3 home runs over the last 7 days, and especially since the Yankees have struggled to hit the long ball and hit the ball in general, they could use some consistent power hitting from a guy like him.

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