Thanks to a walk-off single by left fielder Michael Brantley, the Cleveland Indians downed the New York Yankees 5-4 in 16 innings Tuesday night.
The sides entered the 10th inning tied 2-2 after Carlos Beltran launched a solo shot in the eighth, and when Chase Headley plated two runs with a single in the top of the 10th, New York appeared to seize an insurmountable edge.
Entering Tuesday, the Yankees had not lost a game this season when leading by two or more runs in the ninth inning or later, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Cleveland, however, evened things up in the bottom of the 10th with a sacrifice fly by Carlos Santana and an RBI single off the bat of Yan Gomes.
By the time the showdown reached the 15th inning, it had become the longest clash between the Yankees and Indians since a 16-inning tilt in 1984, according to River Avenue Blues' Katie Sharp.
And historically, the Yankees have been quite successful in extended showdowns with Cleveland, per Sharp:
When all was said and done, the Yankees and Indians used eight pitchers apiece. Luis Severino and Carlos Carrasco started the game, and the teams' bullpens helped keep runs to a minimum during the marathon outing.
Bryan Mitchell did particularly admirable work for the men in pinstripes, tossing three innings of two-hit ball with five strikeouts over the 12th, 13th and 14th innings. The same goes for Indians reliever Ryan Webb, who recorded two strikeouts over three innings without allowing a hit from the 13th to the 15th.
Ultimately, the Yankees were doomed by their struggles at the plate—particularly at the top of the order. Not only did leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury go 0-for-7, but Brett Gardner went 0-for-6. Alex Rodriguez had a 1-for-6 showing and Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann went 0-for-6 and 0-for-3, respectively.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, that futility has been quite familiar of late:
Cumulatively, the Yankees went 8-for-54 at the plate Tuesday, while the Indians recorded hits in 17 of their 60 at-bats.
"We just had a few bad days," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said prior to Tuesday's game, according to the New York Times' Billy Witz. "Sometimes you've got to give a little credit to the people you're facing. If they make their pitches, there usually aren't a lot of hits."
The Yankees and Indians will be back at it Wednesday at 7:10 p.m. ET at Progressive Field, where C.C. Sabathia is slated to square off against Danny Salazar.
But as the Daily News' Mark Feinsand noted, the Yankees may need to call on pitching reinforcements after emptying their bullpen Tuesday:
While Cleveland (52-59) continues to occupy the AL Central cellar following the win, the loss puts the Yankees' top spot in the AL East in jeopardy.
New York (61-50) is now on a four-game losing streak, and combined with the Toronto Blue Jays' nine-game winning streak, the Yankees are just a half game up on their Canadian rivals.
With a crucial weekend set in Toronto looming, New York needs to find its footing—and fast—if it's going to ward off the hard-charging Blue Jays.
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