Indians Stomp Yankees 19-1

Pitchers get lit up like the 4th of July

George Steinbrenner has probably had better birthday's than his 76th yesterday. Though he wasn't at the Yankees-Indians game he couldn't have been happy with the outcome. Starter Shawn Chacon and 5 relievers were torched for 19 runs and 21 hits. Chacon was the worst of all. Due to rain and ineffective pitching, the Yankees hadn't had a starter go more than 6 innings since Chien-Ming Wang's effort on June 28 versus Atlanta. Wang extended the poor performances since that start with only a 5+ inning out on Monday. Chacon (4-3) was a Godsend last season after being acquired from Colorado, but he's been anything but that since. Last night he allowed 7 runs in just 1 1-3 innings. Jhonny Peralta and Victor Martinez each belted 2-run home runs in the 1st inning and Travis Hafner added a 3-run blast in the 3rd. Both Peralta and Hafner would add 2nd home runs later on and Ronnie Bellard also hit a long ball to give the Indians 6 on the night.

Just as he did on Sunday against the Mets, Ron Villone came in and stopped the bleeding with 2 2-3 scoreless innings of relief. But unlike Sunday night, the Yankees bats did nothing against Jake Westbrook and the Yankees bullpen was nothing next to awful. Rookie T.J. Beam had his worst outing in the bigs, allowing 6 runs in just 2-3 of an inning. Mike Myers and Scott Proctor also got knocked around before Kyle Farnsworth mercifully pitched a scoreless 9th.

Martinez led the Tribe with a 5-hit night and Belliard and Hafner drove in 4 runs each. Westbrook (7-4) sailed through 7 innings, allowing just 4 hits and a 1st inning run that came home on Jason Giambi's double play grounder.

Notes

The Yankees recalled Kris Wilson from Triple-A Columbus on Wednesday to help the tired bullpen. Wilson had been used in a starting role. Kevin Reese was sent down to make room on the roster.

The Yankees also claimed outfielder Aaron Guiel off waivers from the Kansas City Royals. The 33-year old will provided another left-handed bat off the bench.