Jeter and Yankees Endure Painful Loss

When you leave seven men on base in the first three innings you can't expect to win a baseball game. Even if it's against a team that has been struggling mightily over the last month-plus. A.J. Burnett pitched, arguably, his best game of the season, but the Yankees came out on the wrong end of a 1-0 decision to the Cleveland Indians.

To make matters worse Derek Jeter's quest for his 3,000th hit on hte homestand likely came to end when the captain left early with a Grade 1 calf strain. Jeter plays through everything and anything, but it's not likely that Joe Girardi will have him in tonight's lineup.

The Yankees loaded the bases with no one out in the 1st inning, put runners on first and second with no out in the 2nd, and had runners on the corners with one out in the 3rd and came away with nothing each time. Jeter tried to draw a throw home on Alex Rodriguez's shallow fly to center in the 1st, but centerfielder Michael Brantley pump faked three times before finally throwing the ball in. Jeter was stuck in place though and lost an opportunity to score. Indians starter Carlos Carrasco then retired Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher to escape the first of his three self made jams. After that, the Yankees were putty in Carrasco's hands. Closer Chris Perez struck out the side in the 9th to preserve the win.

The game's lone run came in the 4th when Swisher demonstrated once again that he's an average outfielder. Brantley lined a ball to right-center that Swisher got a bad jump on, then lunged/dove for, but didn't seem fully extended on. The ball hit off his glove and Brantley had himself a triple. Asdrubal Cabrera followed with a single to left for his 43rd run batted in. Cabrera trails Jeter by a substantial amount of votes in the AL All-Star balloting, but clearly should be the starter at shortstop.

For Burnett, it was a great effort after getting slammed by Boston last week, but his teammates didn't pick him up. He left to a big ovation with two on and two out in the 8th inning. David Robertson finished up the night for the Yankees and stranded two inherited runners in the process.

Notes

Joe Girardi has not committed to a pitcher to step into Bartolo Colon's spot in the rotation. In addition to Hector Noesi, currently on the roster, the Yankees had Scranton scratch David Phelps from his start last night as another option.

Brett Gardner continues to mistify with his bunt attempts and most failures. Gardner, who has been swinging a hot bat, bunted on a 3-2 pitch last night for reasons unknown. The ball went foul for a third strike.

Russell Martin was back out of the lineup with his sore back.