Tribe bats red hot heading into series with Yankees
The New York Yankees' lead atop the AL East shrank after their suddenly stagnant offense flopped during an important weekend series that pitted the highest-scoring teams in the major leagues.
Solving Carlos Carrasco is their next chore.
The Yankees look to avoid losing a fourth straight as they begin a six-game road trip against the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night.
New York (61-49) has scored four runs while dropping four of five after averaging 9.9 over its previous seven. It ranks second in the majors in runs behind Toronto, which held the Yankees to one during a three-game sweep in the Bronx that pulled the Blue Jays to within 1 1/2 games of the division lead.
New York led the East by seven July 28.
The Yankees failed to score in the final two games, marking the first time they were shut out in back-to-back contests since 1999. Their 2,665 games between consecutive shutouts was a major league record.
New York heads to Toronto for another crucial series following these three games with the Indians (51-59). It hasn't dropped four in a row since a season-worst six-game skid May 17-24.
"Look, you have to have some perspective," said Alex Rodriguez, hitting .185 in eight games this month. "There's no talk of panic for us. We've had a very good season so far. We're in first place for a reason. We like our team. We trust our team."
Carrasco (11-8, 3.76 ERA) isn't short on confidence, either. He's allowed one run and three hits while pitching back-to-back complete games, retiring 27 consecutive hitters from the fourth inning of a win over Oakland on July 30 through the fourth of Tuesday's victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
The right-hander held the A's hitless through the final 8 2-3 innings, and the Angels' only hit was a David Murphy single in the fifth.
"The most important thing is that I just tried to throw my game. If they get base hits, they get them," Carrasco said. "I fixed my mechanics a little bit to stay back, and that's what's been working for the last two starts."
Luis Severino will try to develop his own groove. The Yankees' top pitching prospect allowed two runs - one earned - and two hits while striking out seven in five innings of Wednesday's 2-1 loss to Boston, his major league debut.
"I'm sure I'll learn a lot more about him as time goes on and you see him make starts and how he responds to certain situations and adversity," manager Joe Girardi said of the 21-year-old. "But, for the most part, that was kind of what I expected."
The right-hander will have to navigate an Indians lineup that scored 34 runs against Minnesota over the weekend, the club's most in a three-game series since scoring 37 against Tampa Bay in April 2000.
Cleveland hadn't totaled at least 34 in a three-game home series since 1902. The Indians beat the Twins 17-4 on Saturday before Chris Johnson, making his second start since being acquired from Atlanta on Friday, went 4 for 4 with two doubles in Sunday's 8-1 victory.
The Indians, who lost 10-9 on Friday, had averaged 2.3 runs in their previous seven games going into the series.
Michael Brantley has batted .522 over his last six and is hitting .429 with two homers and three doubles during a nine-game hitting streak against the Yankees.
