CLEVELAND — As Austin Romine stepped to the plate in the second inning of the Yankees’ 7-0 win over the Indians in the second game of yesterday’s doubleheader, a fan in the crowd at Progressive Field bellowed, “Who are these guys?”
Manager Joe Girardi might have asked the same question, with players like Corban Joseph, Alberto Gonzalez and Vidal Nuno playing featured roles as the Yankees finished their road trip by splitting the twinbill thanks to a 1-0 loss in the first game.
“It’s huge,” said Romine, who was behind the plate for the shutout in the nightcap. “This is the time for the Yankees when the young guys get to show what they’re made of.”
Even in a season in which their roster has been tested by injuries, yesterday’s lineup was particularly eye-catching for some of the unfamiliar names as they completed a 6-2 road trip.
“It’s a pretty normal lineup for us, almost in a sense,” Girardi said before the first game. “We’ve had to play with our lineup all year long. I’m not really surprised.”
Maybe he’s just grown accustomed to filling out lineup cards like yesterday’s. But once again, the replacements did just fine in front of 23,300 at Progressive Field.
David Phelps surrendered just a first-inning homer to Jason Kipnis in his 6 2/3 innings, but the lineup couldn’t generate any offense against Cleveland right-hander Justin Masterson, who tossed a four-hit shutout.
Nuno was even better in the second game. In his first major league start, he pitched five scoreless innings against an Indians team that has been playing significantly better than when the Yankees visited them in April and had consecutive rainouts.
The righty retired the first eight batters he faced and pitched around two walks in the fourth. With two on and two out in the fifth, he struck out Asdrubal Cabrera to end the inning.
“I really don’t look at the lineup,” Nuno said of his pregame preparation. “[Pitching coach] Larry [Rothschild] just tells me who to worry about.”
And when Nuno was done, Adam Warren came in to throw four scoreless innings for his first save in the majors.
Warren pointed to Phelps’ success a year ago as an important part of what this team has been able to do.
“David started something last year when he came up and did well,” Warren said. “It gave us a glimmer of hope that maybe we can help this team. We’re taking advantage of the opportunity and it gives us confidence.”
On a day when Girardi said he wanted to avoid using David Robertson and Mariano Rivera, the performances on the mound were even more important.
And although Nuno could get sent down because the Yankees may need roster space, he was able to get the team’s attention.
“He commanded everything and didn’t try to overpower people,” said Romine, who had caught Nuno at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre earlier in the season. “When he does that, good things happen … He’s so versatile. He keeps people off-balance with every pitch and they don’t know what’s coming. He was waiting in the wings to showing what he can do.”
After being overmatched by Masterson in the first game, the Yankees scored in the first inning of the second and then blew the game open with a six-run seventh with consecutive run-scoring hits by Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay.
“We’ve been getting it from everybody all season,” Robinson Cano said. “Today was no different.”