CLEVELAND _ In the town where Joe DiMaggio's famed 56-game hitting streak ended 75 years ago this month, the Yankees arrived on Thursday desperate to begin a more modest streak of their own.
"I know it's been up, down, one step forward, two back," manager Joe Girardi said of his club's failure to fire off a sustained winning streak. "But I believe they have a run in them. And it's got to start pretty soon."
Boosted by a successful replay challenge that keyed a three-run sixth, and one that ended the game, the Yankees made a positive step in Thursday night's 5-4 win against the formidable Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field.
Instead of the Indians having the bases loaded with two out, the game ended when Tyler Naquin's infield hit was reversed on replay.
First baseman Mark Teixeira made a sprawling stop of Naquin's hot grounder off Aroldis Chapman. The ball bounded toward second baseman Starlin Castro, who tossed to Chapman covering first.
Called out at home on a pivotal play, Castro was ruled safe via video review _ breaking a 2-2 tie and sending the Yankees (42-43) toward victory in the first of a four-game series against the AL Central-leading Indians (51-34).
The scorching Didi Gregorius homered off Indians starter Trevor Bauer (7-3), who was not sharp after the fourth inning. And Yanks right-hander Ivan Nova (6-5) had to be bailed out in the sixth.
Given a fresh 5-2 lead, Nova yielded consecutive doubles to Carlos Santana and Jason Kipnis to open the sixth. Santana only advanced to third and Kipnis's liner bounced off the glove of a diving Jacoby Ellsbury in center.
Nova allowed a run on a wild pitch and retired Francisco Lindor on a groundout, with no advance, before Girardi summoned Dellin Betances. The All-Star setup man yielded Nova's inherited runner on a groundout to make it 5-4, and got help preventing the tying run from scoring in the seventh.
The speedy Naquin was sure to score from second base when a Betances third strike to pinch-hitter Abraham Almonte briefly got away from catcher Brian McCann.
But McCann was able to recover the ball and throw to first just in time to nail Almonte for the third out.
Andrew Miller, also named to the AL All-Star team, pitched a scoreless eighth before Chapman earned his 17th save.
By virtue of winning a replay challenge, the Yankees were able to tilt the game in their favor.
It was 2-2 in the sixth when Castro and Gregorius collected one-out singles, putting runners at first and second. Chase Headley followed with a sharp single to center, charged by Naquin, who threw home.
With a feet-first slide, Castro was just able to catch the corner tip of home plate. That much was confirmed on replay, and Castro gave an emphatic "safe" sign as he popped out of his slide.
But home plate umpire Dan Bellino called Catro out, prompting the review.
A satisfied Girardi gave a little fist pump along the dugout railing after the play was confirmed, giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead and leaving them with runners at second and third, having advanced on the throw home.
No. 9 hitter Rob Refsnyder immediately followed with a sacrifice fly, which ended Bauer's night. Facing lefty reliever T.J. House, Jacoby Ellsbury slashed an RBI single to left for a 5-2 lead.
Naquin had led off the third inning against Nova with a home run, and Jason Kipnis homered two batters later to give the Indians a 2-0 lead.
Bauer had surrendered just a single and walk until one out in the fifth, when Gregorius belted a solo shot _ his 10th homer of the year, surpassing his total for all of last season.
Headley and Refsnyder followed with singles and Brett Gardner's two-out, ground single to center plated Headley to make it 2-2.
All told, Bauer was charged with five runs on eight hits and two walks in 5.2 innings, ending his streak of seven consecutive quality starts. That had been the longest such current active streak in the majors, tied with Carlos Martinez of St. Louis.
