CLEVELAND _ Sonny Gray didn't disappoint in his Yankees debut.
The Yankees defense?
That's another matter.
In an almost comedic fashion, the Yankees committed three first-inning errors, leading to a pair of unearned runs.
That, and a dominant complete-game outing by Indians ace Corey Kluber were the primary contributors to a 5-1 loss Thursday night in front of 28,124 at Progressive Field.
Gray, the Yankees' headline acquisition at the trade deadline, allowed four runs (two earned) and four hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked three.
Unfortunately for him, and the Yankees (57-50), losers of three straight, Kluber was as good as he's been all season.
The right-hander, with his typically brilliant fastball and curveball, threw six shutout innings before allowing Gary Sanchez's home run in the seventh. Kluber (9-3, 2.77 ERA) allowed that one run and three hits and struck out 11.
He became the fourth pitcher to strike out at least eight batters in 12 straight starts, joining Randy Johnson (four times), Pedro Martinez (twice) and Nolan Ryan. Kluber entered the night 3-1 with a 1.91 ERA in five previous starts against the Yankees.
After Kluber struck out two in a perfect 14-pitch top of the first, Gray watched the Yankees butcher the ball in the bottom half, leading to two unearned runs.
Leadoff man Bradley Zimmer smoked a grounder to Chase Headley that the first baseman bobbled for an error. After Francisco Lindor's 4-3 groundout moved Zimmer to second, rookie second baseman Tyler Wade kicked Michael Brantley's grounder for an error that put runners at the corners for Jose Ramirez. The third baseman lined a 2-and-1 pitch to right for an RBI single and when Clint Frazier air-mailed his throw to third trying for Brantley, that error sent Brantley home and put Ramirez on third. Gray recovered, striking out Edwin Encarnacion on a 1-and-2 slider and getting Carlos Santana to fly to right.
The Yankees blew a chance to cut into the Cleveland lead in the fourth. Frazier, in a 3-for-19 skid, led off with a double to right for the Yankees' first hit. The rookie went to third on Didi Gregorius' long flyout to center. Kluber, however, struck out Sanchez on a curveball in the dirt and got Jacoby Ellsbury to hit a cue-shot grounder to first for the third out, ending the threat.
The Yankees got a baserunner an inning later when Ronald Torreyes singled sharply to left with one out. But he was erased when Austin Romine bounced into a double play, one Girardi came out to argue as second-base umpire Angel Hernandez called Torreyes out for running out of the base line to avoid the tag of Erik Gonzalez.
The Indians added on in the sixth, rallying with two outs. Carlos Santana walked, Brandon Guyer singled and Yan Gomes crushed a first-pitch slider high off the 19-foot high wall in left, the two-run double making it 4-0.
Sanchez's 17th homer of the season, a one-out shot to left-center in the seventh, made it 4-1. But the AL Central-leading Indians (58-48) got the run back in the bottom half when Lindor swatted a 0-and-2 fastball from Chasen Shreve into the bleachers in left to make it 5-1.
