CLEVELAND _ Michael Brantley put on a power display at the right time and Jose Ramirez ignited the crowd with some speed, and those two spurred an eighth-inning rally that lifted the Indians to a 5-2 win over the New York Yankees on Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field.
The Indians and Yankees spent much of the day in a 2-2 deadlock until the eighth inning with Yankees reliever Chad Green on the mound. Brantley launched a pitch to right field that had just enough to clear the out-stretched reach of leaping outfielder Giancarlo Stanton to give the Indians their first lead of the day.
Ramirez followed with a single up the middle. He then stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw by Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka. With the bases loaded and one out, Yan Gomes sent a high fly ball to right field. Ramirez tested Stanton's arm and beat the throw on a bang-bang play with a head-first slide, putting the Indians ahead, 4-2. A wild pitch brought home pinch runner Erik Gonzalez to push it to a three-run rally.
Edwin Encarnacion was hit on the hand by a pitch in the eighth and was in obvious pain. After being checked by trainers, he was replaced by Gonzalez.
Cody Allen pitched a clean ninth inning for his 20th save.
The Yankees did some damage against Indians starting pitcher Trevor Bauer early with a couple of two-out hits. With a runner on third in the third, Aaron Hicks singled to right to score Brett Gardner. An inning later, Neil Walker belted a solo home run to right field to put the Yankees ahead, 2-0.
The Indians had been quiet against Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka up to that point. That was until Encarnacion launched the first pitch he saw from Tanaka in the fourth for a two-run home run to the Home Run Porch to tie it at 2. It was his 22nd home run of the season.
Bauer received some strong defensive support as the Indians kept it close. Kipnis robbed Gardner of a hit with a diving stop in the fourth inning, Yonder Alonso saved a run with a leaping catch to potentially take away extra bases from Hicks in the fifth and Brantley made a diving catch on a line drive off the bat of Walker in the seventh.
Carlos Carrasco relieved Bauer and pitched a scoreless eighth inning in relief to earn the win. It was the first time Carrasco has pitched in relief since August of 2014.
