The Indians have lost 13 of their last 16 against the Yankees.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Indians played the Yankees in the third of a four-game series Wednesday. Here is a capsule look from The Plain Dealer reporter Dennis Manoloff:
Game: 90.
Opponent: Yankees.
Location: Progressive Field, Cleveland.
Time of day: Night.
Time elapsed: 4 hours, 51 minutes.
Attendance: 21,727.
Result: Yankees 5, Indians 4 (14).
Records: Yankees 46-44, Indians 44-46.
Scoreboard watch: The Indians fell to 7 1/2 games behind first-place Detroit in the AL Central. The Tigers defeated the Dodgers, 4-1, in Detroit.
Ownership: The Yankees have won 13 of 16 in the series since the beginning of 2012.
14 not fun: The Indians are 0-2 in 14-innings games. They lost at Arizona, 9-8, June 24. In those two marathons, they played a combined 10 hours, 23 minutes, with nothing to show for it.
Bottom line, up front: The Indians deserved to lose because their offense was awful after the second inning.
Through two innings, the Indians had six hits and three runs. For the final 12 innings, they had six hits and one run.
They didn't do nearly enough against a starting pitcher, righty Brandon McCarthy, who made his Yankees debut after being traded to Arizona. As a member of the Diamondbacks, McCarthy was 3-10 with a 5.01 ERA and .298 average against.
The Indians had their way with McCarthy in the first two innings -- albeit while scoring three unearned runs because of first baseman Mark Teixeira's throwing error -- but he managed to work 6 2/3 innings and leave with the score tied, 4-4.
The Indians finished with one extra-base hit: a one-out double by Asdrubal Cabrera in the fifth.
Cabrera went 3-for-7, which should be cause for celebration in Tribe circles, but even Cabrera was not immune. With Jason Kipnis on second in the 14th, Cabrera struck out swinging in his only at-bat with runners in scoring position.
Tribe hitting machine Michael Brantley had culpability, too. Brantley singled in his first at-bat but went hitless with one walk in his next six trips. With two outs in the 14th, Brantley flied to left, where Zoilo Almonte made a good over-the-head catch.
Brantley finished 0-for-2 with RISP. He can't be expected to deliver every time, but it stands out when he doesn't.
New York pop: The Yankees also left plenty of at-bats to be desired, but they compensated with four extra-base hits, including three homers. All three homers came in two-strike counts.
Teixeira led off the fourth by sending an 0-2 curveball from righty Josh Tomlin (7 IP, 4 R) into the right-field seats to cut New York's deficit to 3-1. The pitch was over the plate and low.
With one run in, a runner on first and two outs in the fifth, Teixeira hit a 2-2 fastball from Tomlin deep to right to give New York a 4-3 lead. The pitch was on the inner half and low; catcher Yan Gomes had been set up outside.
Teixeira hit homers Nos. 16-17.
Throwing low pitches to Teixeira when he is batting left-handed doesn't make much sense, especially in 0-2 and 2-2 counts. Teixeira has made a lucrative living as a low-ball hitter from the left side and high-ball hitter from the right side.
With two outs in the 14th, lefty Jacoby Ellsbury hit an 0-2 slider from Vinnie Pestano into the right-field seats for the 5-4 lead. The pitch was down and in; Gomes had been set up on the outer half. For a right-handed pitcher without dominant stuff against lefties to throw down and in to a hitter of Ellsbury's ability is inviting trouble.
Indians pitchers have given up countless important hits in 0-2, 1-2 and 2-2 counts this season.
Ellsbury's blast off Pestano put Tribe manager Terry Francona in position to be second-guessed. Pestano's career splits are dramatically better against righties than against lefties, and he has spent time in the minors this season, so it was curious why Francona asked Pestano to face Ellsbury. Even as the game was in the 14th, Francona had lefties Kyle Crockett and Nick Hagadone available. And lefty Marc Rzepczynski had gotten the first out of the 14th (Kelly Johnson) before giving way to Pestano, who got Brendan Ryan to fly to right ahead of Ellsbury. "Zep'' pitched two innings, but it shouldn't be out of the question that he pitch to two more batters (righty-but-light-hitting Ryan, Ellsbury). Then Pestano, if need be, could come in to face Derek Jeter.
High-wire act: Indians closer Cody Allen escaped a two-on, none-out jam in the 10th.
Jeter fell behind, 0-2, fouled and took four balls. Credit Jeter for laying off two close pitches. Brian McCann's single pushed Jeter to second and brought up two-homer Teixeira.
Allen fell behind, 3-1. Teixeira fouled a fastball over the plate, then popped a fastball on the outer half to center. Both runners held.
Brian Roberts, in a 1-1 count, grounded to first baseman Carlos Santana, who fired to shortstop Cabrera for one out. Cabrera's relay to Allen was in time by a half-step, and umpire Brian Knight signaled out. But the Yankees won a replay challenge because Allen's foot was a couple of inches off the bag.
As Ichiro Suzuki stepped in, Tribe pitching coach Mickey Callaway and the infielders met with Allen and Gomes on the mound. Suzuki always is dangerous because he can slap good pitches from foul line to foul line, so walking him to load the bases was an option. The Indians elected to pitch to him, and Allen worked him over, striking him out swinging at a high curve.
Agonizingly close: The Indians loaded the bases with one out against lefty David Huff in their half.
With one out, former Indian Huff walked Brantley (eight pitches), Santana (six) and Lonnie Chisenhall (eight). Huff threw close pitches in each at-bat and might have been squeezed on a couple, but the batters did well to foul some pitches and spit on others.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi hooked Huff for righty Shawn Kelley. Nick Swisher, whose two-run single gave the Tribe a 3-0 lead in the first, needed a medium-deep fly ball to be a walkoff Brohioan. He struck out swinging.
David Murphy grounded to short.
Finally: With an eighth-inning strikeout, Chisenhall finally had enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting race. He finished 0-for-5 with the walk and is batting .325.
Chisenhall and Gomes (0-for-6) were the Indians without a hit Wednesday.
