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Yesterday's Game: Indians 5, Yankees 2
Kluber spectacular again in 5-2 victory over Yankees - Let's Go Tribe
Corey Kluber, solo HRs help Indians beat Yanks | indians.com
Cleveland Indians beat New York Yankees, 5-2, with good pitching and home runs | cleveland.com
Kluber finally ended the madness, not only pitching well in yesterday's game, but perhaps stopping the runaway affect this week's short pitching outings has had on the bullpen. Kluber was his own bridge to the ninth inning, and because of that (and the off day on Monday), the Tribe bullpen should be back to normal. Dan Otero has now had two days of rest after having to throw in three straight games, and the rest of the back end of the bullpen is in good shape now.
As the events of the day unfolded, the Indians needed to win, as the Tigers won yet again last night, keeping their deficit in the AL Central to two games.
Indians News
House thankfully wasn't needed yesterday.
Andrew Miller picks up first save with Indians | indians.com
The Cleveland Indians have an opportunity to kill the closer role - Let's Go Tribe
Because the Yankees were sending multiple left-handed batters to the plate in the ninth, Terry Francona went with Andrew Miller for the save. If you read Merritt's fine article on how the Indians may puncture the closer role dogma, you'll know that the Indians are going to use either Cody Allen or Andrew Miller in late-inning situations dependent on who the opposing team is sending up to bat. Francona used Miller in the sixth and seventh innings of Thursday's game because the Twins were sending their best three hitters to the plate in the seventh inning, which is how a manager should be using an elite reliever.
MLB News
Yanks, Alex Rodriguez to hold news conference | MLB.com
Rodriguez will be speaking to the media at 11 AM this morning. Bring the popcorn.
Yankees GM Brian Cashman will also be speaking, so it could be anything from a retirement announcement to a DFA move to something less major. Rodriguez is under contract for one more season with the Yankees.
Ichiro Suzuki singles for career hit No. 2,999 | MLB.com
Ichiro is one hit away from collecting his 3,000th hit, an astonishing feat given that he didn't play his first MLB game until he was 27 years old.
Tigers' Castellanos out 4-7 weeks with broken hand
Detroit just recently got JD Martinez back from a lengthy DL stint, but now Castellanos will miss a significant period of time. They also placed Jordan Zimmermann on the DL yesterday.