Watch: Indians’ Corey Kluber Dominates In 5-1 Win Over Yankees, Sonny Gray’s Debut

by Pablo MenaAugust 4, 2017, 2:55 pmDaily Digest, News, Z-Home Slider >

Corey Kluber threw a complete and dominant game on Thursday night to rob the spotlight from pitcher Sonny Gray, who was making his debut with the New York Yankees.

Yankees vs. Indians score

The Cleveland Indians starter allowed three hits, struck out 11 batters and walked one with just 106 pitches to lead his team to a 5-1 home victory over the Yankees.

This marked Kluber’s 13th career complete game and fourth straight start in which he fanned at least 11 players, and it continued a stretch where the right-hander struck out out at least ten batters in ten of his 12 starts since returning from the disabled list on June 1 following a back injury.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi admitted how impressed he was with the Indians ace, and said he believed his dominance was the main reason for New York’s sluggish play on Thursday.

“Kluber had a lot to do with it tonight,” said Girardi. “I’m watching his stuff, the pitches he’s throwing, they’re putting them on the board, too. His stuff is dynamite.”

Gray — whom the Yankees received from the Oakland Athletics at the non-waiver trading deadline on Monday — delivered a strong outing despite the loss, New York’s third straight and fourth in five games. In six innings, the 27-year-old righty allowed four runs (two earned) and four hits while walking three and striking out six.

“I feel like I threw the ball OK,” Gray said. “But at the same time, if I can shut that sixth inning down [Yan Gomes hit a two-run double], it’s a completely different ballgame. It’s just one of those things that got away from me for a couple of different hitters, and they took advantage. It gave them all the momentum for the last three innings.”

First baseman Chase Headley seemed to think his new teammate performed well in his first game.

“I thought he was awesome,” Headley said. “He’s a perfectionist. You could see when he threw a pitch he wasn’t happy with, he was upset with himself. It’s just fun to play with a guy that competes like that.”

The Yankees’ defense did not help Gray much, as they committed three errors in the first inning. Gray’s first batte Bradley Zimmer hit a grounder to right field that Headley — new to the first base position — couldn’t stop. His third batter, Michael Brantley, hit a grounder that rookie second baseman Tyler Wade failed to catch. The following batter, Jose Ramirez, smacked a base hit to right field that Clint Frazier fielded cleanly but then, in an attempt to tag Brantley, overthrew past third baseman Ronald Torreyes and out of the field of play, allowing Brantley and Zimmer to score and Ramirez to reach third.

Gary Sanchez scored the Yankees’ lone homer off Kluber in the seventh inning. With out one in the frame, the catcher smacked the ball over the wall in left-center field. Other than that, the Yankees only put one runner in scoring position: Didi Gregorius pushed Clint Frazier to third with a fly ball to deep center after Frazier smacked a double in the right-field corner to lead off the fourth — the first hit against Kluber. However, Kluber then struck out Sanchez and then tossed to Jacoby Ellsbury, whose slow roller to first landed right into first baseman Carlos Santana’s glove.

Following Wednesday’s rain-delayed 2-0 home loss to Detroit on Wednesday, Girardi sat Home Run Derby champion Aaron Judge, who was hitting .164 since the All-Star break, and Matt Holliday, who was batting .143 since he returned from a viral illness after the break.

“You look at these guys their second halves — Judge and especially Holliday — it’s nothing compared to what their first halves have been,” Girardi said of the two anchors to his lineup for most of the season. “And these guys are really important to us. Again, you can keep running them out there, and then you can run them into the ground, and that probably doesn’t help. Or you can say, ‘Hey, I’m going to give you a day and see if we can get things straightened out.’”

The Yankees (57-50) sit two games behind the Boston Red Sox for the American League East lead. Lefty Jaime Garcia will make his debut with the Bombers in Friday’s game at Progressive Field, which will begin at 7:10 pm EST. The Mexican pitcher was acquired on July 30 from the Minnesota Twins, for whom he started just once.

Garcia earned the win in that July 28 contest, allowing three runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings to the A’s. The Indians will counter with righty Trevor Bauer.

CLEVELAND, OH – AUGUST 03: Sonny Gray #55 of the New York Yankees pitches against the Cleveland Indians in the third inning at Progressive Field on August 3, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Indians defeated the Yankees 5-1. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images)