INDIANS 5, YANKEES 2 Miller gets save vs. pals in pinstripes

NEW YORK — Andrew Miller stood slim and tall on the Yankee Stadium mound, snapping off tight sliders as he protected a late lead the same as so many times before. The only thing out of the ordinary was his uniform.

Corey Kluber put the Indians’ rotation back on track, Miller earned a save against the team that traded him last weekend and the Indians beat the Yankees 5-2 on Saturday.

“It’s a lot easier just to focus on executing pitches when there’s no relationship or anything like that,” Miller said, sounding reIt’s lieved. “This last week’s been pretty hectic and, like I said, happy I survived and found a way.”

Mike Napoli, Jason Kipnis and Rajai Davis homered to help the AL Central leaders recover from an early two-run deficit.

Kluber (11-8) fired eight innings of five-hit ball, beating CC Sabathia (6-9) in a matchup of pitchers who won the AL Cy Young Award with the Indians.

Miller closed with a one-hit ninth for his first save with the Indians. And lo and behold, it came at the expense of his old pals in pinstripes.

“None of it was fun, honestly. tough,” Miller said. “It’s just a huge distraction.”

Miller’s previous nine saves this year came with the Yankees.

“It’s strange to see him in a different uniform,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “He was just here.”

With the Indians in dire need of a solid outing after five straight rocky starts, Kluber came through.

Kluber struck out eight, walked one and threw 100 pitches in improving to 3-0 with a 1.46 ERA in his last five starts.

“He got things back in order,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. CLEVELAND Davis cf Kipnis 2b Lindor ss Napoli dh Santana 1b Ramirez 3b Guyer lf a-Chisnhll rf Almonte rf-lf Perez c TOTALS NEW YORK Gardner lf Ellsbury cf Teixeira 1b McCann dh Castro 2b Gregorius ss Sanchez c Hicks rf Torreyes 3b b-Headley 3b TOTALS 34 30 5 2 10 6 5 1 .260 .287 .306 .253 .248 .299 .429 .300 .278 .050 .261 .272 .199 .233 .259 .288 .263 .197 .227 .252