In the past week, the Yankees found a way to beat the Tigers’ Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Rick Porcello. But on Saturday, they were overmatched by Indians right-hander Corey Kluber in a 3-0 defeat in The Bronx.
“There was a lot of talk [about] what we faced this week with Detroit, but if you look at the top five guys in the American League, [Kluber is] right there,” manager Joe Girardi said after the Yankees had their three-game winning streak snapped.
The Yankees had won six of seven, and while Brandon McCarthy was effective once again, he made a costly mistake to Jose Ramirez in the second inning that resulted in a two-run homer and gave Kluber all the support he needed.
“I didn’t make my pitch and [Ramirez] made me pay for it,” said McCarthy, who lost his first decision in five starts with the Yankees, falling to 4-1 since arriving from Arizona.
Kluber improved to 13-6. He struck out 10 in six innings and the Indians fanned 15 Yankees overall.
“When you don’t walk guys, you have good stuff and you execute, that’s what’s going to happen,” Chase Headley said after the Yankees were shut out for the fourth time this season.
Headley was well aware of how Kluber has been pitching. In his last nine starts, the 28-year-old is 7-1 with a 1.19 ERA.
“He’s been on a roll,” Headley said. “We’ve seen the way he’s been throwing the ball. I thought we did a decent job battling him and getting him out after six.”
When the Yankees did get something going offensively, they weren’t able to cut into Cleveland’s lead.
Derek Jeter hit a leadoff infield single in the sixth that gave him 3,431 hits for his career, passing Honus Wagner for sixth all-time.
Jacoby Ellsbury followed with a bloop single to center, but the threat was short-lived as Kluber responded by striking out Carlos Beltran, Headley and Stephen Drew consecutively to end the inning and keep it a two-run game.
“He’s nasty, man,” Jeter said. “I don’t think he threw too many pitches over the middle of the plate.”
Headley agreed.
“Good pitchers have that extra gear when things get tight,” he said.
Kluber also fanned Drew with two on and two out in the fourth. The Yankees fared no better against Cleveland’s bullpen after Michael Brantley’s homer off the right-field foul pole off Chase Whitley in the eighth made it 3-0.
Brett Gardner started the bottom of the eighth with a double to left off Bryan Shaw, but he was stranded there when Shaw struck out Jeter, hit Ellsbury with a pitch and then got Beltran and Headley swinging.
It wasted another strong starting performance by McCarthy, who gave up just two runs in 6 ¹/₃ innings, fanning eight and walking none. He was hit on the right foot by a Brantley line drive in the third. The play went for a hit, but McCarthy remained in the game.
“It felt numb for a little bit,” McCarthy said. “They kept checking on it.”
X-rays taken after he came out were negative, and McCarthy said he didn’t flash back to the liner that fractured his skull two years ago when he was with Oakland.
“I had pain in my foot flashing through my mind,” McCarthy said.
And he’ll likely have memories of Kluber, as well.
“You’re going to run into guys like that,” Girardi said. “He just shut us down.”