Triston McKenzie dominated the powerful New York lineup in seven brilliant innings in a combined one-hitter gem, with closer Emmanuel Clase surviving a nail-biting ninth inning, in the Cleveland Guardians' 2-0 victory over the Yankees on Sunday in the MLB.
Franmil Reyes drove in both runs for Cleveland, with a home run in the fourth and a run-scoring single in the eighth, in the final game of the series that the Guardians salvaged. McKenzie (5-6) only allowed a broken-bat single by Josh Donaldson in the fourth inning. The right-hander, who had been punished with home runs this season, kept the ball in the park and the Yankees hitters off balance.
Eli Morgan worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning before giving way to Clase, the American League's top reliever in June. The Yankees loaded the bases with two outs thanks to two walks, one to pinch-hitter Aaron Judge, before Clase got Aaron Hicks to roll over to second for the final out of the game and his 19th save in 21 opportunities.
Hicks lowered his batting average to .138 (8-for-58) in his career with the bases loaded. The Yankees lost for only the sixth time in 32 games since May 31. For the Yankees, Venezuelans Gleyber Torres went 0-for-4 and Marwin Gonzalez went 0-for-1. Meanwhile, for the Guardians, Dominicans Franmil Reyes went 2-for-4 with one run scored and two RBIs, and Amed Rosario went 1-for-2 with one run scored; Venezuelans Andres Gimenez and Gabriel Arias went 0-for-4, and Sandy Leon went 1-for-3.
With information from MLB.
New York Yankees vs. Cleveland Guardians: latest lineups
- New York Yankees: LeMahieu D., Judge A., Torres G., Stanton G., Andujar M., Hicks A., Carpenter M., Trevino J., Gonzalez M., Gallo J.
- Cleveland Guardians: Kwan S., Rosario A., Ramirez J., Naylor J., Reyes F., Gimenez A., Palacios R., Leon S., Straw M., Arias G., Miller O.
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