Yankees Avoid Elimination, Beat Indians 1-0

YANKEES 1 - INDIANS 0 
CLE leads Series 2-1

It was a thrilla in the Bronx. The New York Yankees answered the call and shut up the critics after a disastrous Game 2 with a thrilling 1-0 win over the Indians to keep their season alive for at least one more night.

It is amazing how things can change in the matter of 48 hours, but that is exactly what the Yankees did Sunday night. On Friday, Yankees fans were ready to ship Joe Girardi out of town after a controversial decision not to challenge a supposed "hit by pitch" on Lonnie Chisenthall that led to a 5-run inning for Cleveland. Two days later the Yankees flipped the script and left Yankees fans cheering with a performance for the ages.

Never has the new Yankee Stadium rocked as loudly as it did on Sunday. The fans could feel something special was happening and the players fed off it.

Mashairo Tanaka needed the performance of his career against 18-game winner Chris Carrasco and he delivered big time. He showed raw emotion, and fed off every second of the moment. For a guy who had taken a lot of heat for not showing ace like stuff since he arrived here in 2014, Tanaka pitched, arguably his best game in Yankee pinstripes.

Tanaka gave the Bronx Bombers seven shut-out innings, allowing only three hits, while striking out seven. The righty set the tone right from the onset when struck out Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez to open the ball game, then came back to strike out Yankee killer, Jay Bruce to open the second inning. The strikeout of Bruce was one of four strikeouts of the Indians slugger on the night as the Yankees succeed in changing their game-plan against him.

Whenever Tanaka found himself in trouble he found a way to get out of it. In the top of the fourth inning he surrendered a one-out triple to Jason Kipnis. With Ramirez and Bruce coming up, it was easy to think the Indians would scratch out a run, but Tanaka had other ideas. He worked a five-pitch at bat to Ramirez, always staying ahead in the count, before striking him out swinging for the second out. Then he overpowered Bruce with a series of splitters that the slugger couldn't keep up with for another strikeout to get out of the inning.

But that moment wasn't the greatest of the night. In the top of the sixth with a runner aboard for Cleveland, Tanaka left a meatball over the plate that Lindor crushed toward right. The fans stood a-gast as the ball traveled through the air. With all that great work by Tanaka it looked like it would be 2-0 Indians in just seconds. Then the ball found Aaron Judge. A little hop is all Judge needed with his 6-foot-7 frame, as he brought the ball back into the ball park for the out as the Stadium exploded with cheers.

The Curtain Call:
Bottom of the seventh inning, still scoreless and former Yankee Andrew Miller was on the mound for Cleveland.  In 18 career playoff games, Miller owned an ERA of 0.90. The chances that the Yankees would scratch out anything against him was next to none. Greg Bird didn't get the memo.

Even with the lefty-on-lefty matchup, Bird took a Miller fastball and ripped the cover off it when he launched a rocket into the right field stands for a solo homer. The Stadium exploded, the lights flickered as Bird rounded the bases with a homer that landed somewhere on the George Washington Bridge.

1-0 Yankees.

Believe it.

Aroldis Chapman made the lead stand up. He struck out Yan Gomes and Giovanny Urshela to end the eight inning, then worked out of trouble in the ninth inning with a strikeout of Bruce and a fly out by Carlos Santana to put the game on ice.

Gotta believe is typically a saying for the team across town, but the Yankees are telling their fans to believe in the improbable comeback. We'll see what happens.