Cleveland @ New York preview
Yankee Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jun 1, 2009 ) NY Yankees 5, Cleveland 2
After battling arch-rivals and division leaders for the last two weeks, the New York Yankees are due for a little rest and relaxation.
The Cleveland Indians are arriving right on time.
New York went 6-7 in the last two weeks against Minnesota, Tampa Bay (both division leaders), Boston and the New York Mets. It has been a brutal stretch that has left the Yankees battling to simply stay within 4 1/2 games of the first-place Rays in the American League East.
That all changes for four games this weekend, when the Yankees are expected to feast on an already young Indians team that has been decimated by injuries.
Yet even when they face one of the worst teams in the league, the Yankees still have to deal with a blossoming ace who seems to have rediscovered his form.
After a shaky two seasons, Fausto Carmona is pitching as well as he did in 2007, when he finished fourth in the Cy Young Award voting and shut down the Yankees in a home playoff victory dominated by swirling midges.
Carmona is commanding his sinker again and the results are obvious. He has allowed more than three runs in a game just twice this season, and a large part of the credit is due to catcher Mike Redmond.
Redmond came to Cleveland this season as a backup and quickly became Carmona’s personal catcher in spring training. That relationship has lasted into the season. Redmond has caught each of Carmona’s starts, which had produced a 3.45 ERA.
But Redmond has struggled behind the plate: Opponents are 19-of-21 on stolen-base attempts, a staggering success rate. That’s great news for speedy Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner, who already has 17 stolen bases.
This is the start of the Yankees’ opportunity to close the gap on the Rays. Beginning today, New York will play 13 of its next 16 games against last-place teams (Cleveland, Baltimore and Houston). The next seven games are at home, where the Yankees are 13-6 this season.
Phil Hughes gets the start today as he tries to regain his form from earlier this season. Hughes allowed six total runs through his first six starts, but has been rocked for nine runs in his last two starts.
The New York tabloids have already turned on Hughes, who is searching for his command. He complained about throwing strikes, but not “good” strikes in his last start against the Mets.
Hughes missed the corners and left pitches out over the plate. The result was four runs in 5 2-3 innings, although seven of his 17 outs were strikeouts.
The Yankees need Hughes to regain his control and his April form. Luckily, the struggling Indians are a perfect team against which to get healthy.