Indians continue to roll with sweep of Yankees
NEW YORK — Playing 23 games in 23 days sounds daunting. The Indians treated it like a walk in the park.
They ended the trek Wednesday by completing a doubleheader sweep of the Yankees with a 9-4 win in the second game. They won the opener 2-1.
The 23-game test began on Aug. 8. It’s safe to say the Indians aced it by going 17-6.
The rotation has been the star of this run, and it was on display again in the sweep of the Yankees. Trevor Bauer and Ryan Merritt weren’t at their best, but they each earned a win. In August, the rotation has gone 18-4 with a 2.67 ERA.
Bauer (14-8) went six innings and gave up one run on four hits. Jose Ramirez had four hits as the Indians made a two-run first inning stand up.
“Trevor didn’t have his best stuff, but he fought like crazy, which was good” manager Terry Francona said. “He ends up giving up one run, but he got us to a point in the game where we could get to our bullpen, and Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen were tremendous.”
Ramirez went 4-for-4 on and scored what proved to be the winning run. He had been struggling since the All-Star break.
“He’s just a good hitter,” Francona said. “Guys go through periods when they don’t swing it. But man is it nice when he gets going again.”
Cody Allen retired four straight for his 22nd save of the season. He struck out pinchhitter Aaron Judge for the final out
Merritt (2-0, 1.74) has become the Tribe’s super sub among pitchers. In his last two starts, both fill-in appearances with the big-league club, he’s beaten the Royals and Yankees. Merritt has allowed one run in 12 innings to win those two games.
The doubleheader sweep completed a three-game sweep of the Yankees. It’s the first time the Indians have swept a threegame set from the Yankees in the Bronx since April 4-7, 1989.
The Indians took a 4-0 lead in the first and sent 10 men to the plate against lefty Jordan Montgomery.
The Yankees made it 4-1 against Merritt in the second on Greg Bird’s single. It was the only run Merritt allowed in 5 innings.
Edwin Encarnacion added a solo home run, Yan Gomes hit a two-run homer in the seventh and Francisco Lindor hit another homer in the eighth.
Zach McAllister closed the game for the Tribe, but not before allowing a three-run homer to Bird.
Cut earlier in the day by Cleveland after seven seasons, Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden signed a three-year, $27 million contract Wednesday with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are giving the 28-year-old a chance to exact some revenge on a team that doesn’t think he can play anymore.
The Steelers posted a photo on Twitter of a smiling Haden signing his contract. The sight had to make the stomachs turn of some Browns fans.
Haden has been slowed by injuries the past two seasons and said this summer he was determined to show he can still be an elite defender. The former first-round draft pick has 19 interceptions in seven seasons, but he has played in just 18 games the past two years.
“We want to thank Joe for all he has done for this organization both on and off the field,” said Sashi Brown, Browns executive vice president of football operations. “He has been a great teammate and a true asset to the Cleveland community. These are very difficult decisions, we have the utmost respect for Joe and in my eyes, he will always be a Cleveland Brown.”
Cleveland, which is
in need of a receiver, had shopped Haden but couldn’t find a trade partner.
Browns trade former first-round pick
The Browns made their final move with offensive lineman Cam Erving, another of the team’s first-round busts.
Erving, who was shifted from guard to center to tackle during two seasons with Cleveland, was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs for a 2018 fifthround draft pick.
Since 2011, seven players drafted by the Browns in the first round are no longer with the team. Erving joins a list that includes Haden, Johnny Manziel, Trent Richardson, Brandon Weeden and Barkevious Mingo.
Burfict’s suspension reduced to 3 games
A suspension for Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict was reduced from five to three games for his hit on Kansas City running back Anthony Sherman during an exhibition
Texans exhibition game canceled
The Texans headed home to flood-ravaged Houston after their exhibition game Thursday against the Dallas Cowboys was canceled.
The game had been moved from Houston to the home of the Cowboys because of flooding after Hurricane Harvey. The decision to cancel the game was announced when the Texans said authorities had found a safe route for the team to drive home. It had traveled directly to north Texas from their last exhibition game, at New Orleans.
“When it became available to us, we’ve got so many guys on the team that are distracted by all the events and the circumstances that it became increasingly more difficult from our perspective to go out and try to play a football game,” Texans GM Rick Smith said. “And I’m not sure it would have been fair to do so.”