The New York Yankees kicked off a four-game set at home against the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night.
The game got off to a slow start as both pitchers were perfect through the opening inning. However, the second inning saw things begin to fall apart for Iván Nova who got the start for the Yankees.
He gave up a leadoff walk to Carlos Santana, and the next batter Lonnie Chisenhall doubled, giving the Indians an early 1-0 lead.
In the top of third, after a 1-2-3 bottom half, Cleveland added another run on a base hit by Michael Brantley, scoring Jason Kipnis.
In the bottom of the third, Yankees third baseman Chase Headley led off with a double to right center. The next batter, Didi Gregorious, struck out on a high fastball, not allowing the runner to advance. Stephen Drew walked on six pitches, setting up leadoff hitter and center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury who had a seven-game hit streak entering tonight’s contest. He advanced the runners on a ground ball, and then left fielder Brett Gardner ended the inning on a soft ground ball to Kipnis.
After the Indians added another in the top half of the fourth, Yankee DH Alex Rodriguez stepped to the plate to lead off the bottom half of the inning. He launched a solo home run into the left field bleachers, cutting the Yankee deficit by one run. Suddenly, New York was back in it, 3-1 after four innings of play.
Yankee starter Nova had a rather subpar start, going five and giving up three on over 90 pitches.
The two will face off at Yankee Stadium again at 7:05 pm ET on Friday night.