Cleveland Indians Crush Homers, Yankees in 10-2 Win

The Cleveland Indians used the power of the long ball to crush the New York Yankees 10-2 Friday night. The blowout win tied the series at one a piece and moved the Indians to 52-34 on the season as they continue the dominant first half. The loss dropped the Yankees to 42-44 on the season as they remain stuck in fourth place in the American League East.

More from Away Back Gone

• Cleveland Guardians tantalizingly close to locking up AL Central tiebreakers
• Cleveland Guardians: Terry Francona becomes meme in profanity-laced ejection
• Say goodbye to defensive shifts and hello to bigger bases, pitch clock in 2023
• Cleveland Guardians: Shane Bieber second-fastest to 800 strikeouts in major-league history
• The next week will make or break the Cleveland Guardians’ season

After one of his worst outings of the season last time out, Corey Kluber showed why he’s an All-Star with a brilliant performance on a night that he really didn’t need to be thanks to the offense. Kluber went eight innings allowing just one run on five hits. He walked none and struck out eight on the night moving to 9-8 on the season with the win. The only run the Yankees were able to get off him came in the top of the 7th inning on a solo home run by Brian McCann, his 14th of the season. It made the score 9-1 Indians at the time.

Despite being at only 96 pitches, Joseph Colon came on in relief to pitch the 9th inning for the Tribe, making his major league debut in the process. He did allow one run on two hits as Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann hit back-to-back doubles to plate the Yankees’ second run of the game.

The offense was the story of the night, hitting a season-high five home runs in the game. They got the fireworks started in the 1st inning as Carlos Santana leadoff off the game with his 20th home run of the season to give the Tribe the early 1-0 lead. Santana became the first Indian to hit 20 home runs before the All-Star break since Grady Sizemore back in 2008. Jason Kipnis followed that up with a solo home run of his own hitting his 13th of the season and giving the Indians a 2-0 lead after two batters. Lonnie Chisenhall made it 4-0 later in the inning hitting two-run home run, his sixth of the year.

The big blast of the night came in the 3rd inning when Mike Napoli absolutely teed off on Yankees’ starter Chad Green with a two-run home run that nearly hit drummer John Adams in the bleachers on a ball that traveled an estimated 467 feet and giving the Tribe a 6-0 lead. Francisco Lindor just missed adding a home run of his own in the 5th inning hitting a 400 foot RBI double to center field that just missed going out. Napoli and Yan Gomes added RBIs as well before Kipnis capped off the night with his second home run of the night in the 7th inning, giving the Tribe a 10-1 lead. It was Kipnis’s 14th home run of the season, one shy of his combined total in 2014 and 2015.

Next: Could the Indians Have Another Cy Young in Salazar?

The Indians and Yankees will go back at it tomorrow in a late afternoon game, starting at 4:10 pm. All-Star pitcher Danny Salazar (10-3, 2.36 ERA) will take the hill for the Tribe against former Indian CC Sabathia (5-6, 3.48). The Indians will be looking to extend their lead in the Central Division which stands at seven games as of this writing though could be eight by game time tomorrow…