A lot of this season is about Derek Jeter, not the New York Yankees. While the retiring legend moved himself up to 6th on the all-time hit list with career number 3431, blowing past Honus Wagner, his team lost 3-0 to the Cleveland Indians, pushing them further back in the race for a playoff spot through the division title or a wild card spot.
Jeter got the standing ovation from a nearly packed house in Yankee Stadium, finishing with 1-for-4 at the plate, but the other story was the Yankees doing terribly with runners in scoring positions. They finished with 0-for-9 in that situation, including six strikeouts, with eight players remaining on base throughout the game. The Indians didn’t do that great on the plate, but got one two-run homer from Jose Ramirez and another late home run from Michael Brantley.
Corey Kluber put on a strong pitching performance, giving up four hits in six innings while striking out 10 batters, improving to 13-6 this season with a 2.46 ERA. Scott Atchinson didn’t allow any hits while Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen combined to strike out five Yankee hitters in the final five innings. The Yankees didn’t get a bad day from Brandon McCarthy in his start, giving up eight hits while striking out seven, but it wasn’t enough on such a wasteful day from his offense.
For Jose Ramirez, it was the first career home run, winding up at 338 feet. He hit it with two outs, and the 21-year old shortstop finished the day with 3-for-4 at the plate including a stolen base. It took him 93 plate appearances in order to get his first home run.
Kluber is the first Indians pitcher with seven games or more in a season of 10 strikeouts or more since Dennis Eckersley with eight such games in 1976. For the Yankees, this was only the fourth time in franchise history that they’ve been shut out while striking out at least 15 times during the loss. Kluber’s ERA since the All-Star break is 0.68.
I try not to think about it but today, Honus Wagner, he’s the last one on the list that has played short at all — so that one hits home a little bit. But anytime you’re passing guys that have had the careers that they’ve had, it’s kind of overwhelming.