Yankees 3, Indians 2: Masahiro Tanaka dominates the Tribe on A-Rod's big day

Masahiro Tanaka was downright filthy on Sunday afternoon, shutting down the potent Cleveland Indians' lineup. He scattered six hits over six plus innings, striking out eight, while allowing just one run. His slider was untouchable, as he generated nine swinging strikes on the pitch, making up for a seven run outing against the Mets on Tuesday.

The Yankees got off to a hot start against Carlos Carrasco, as Brett Gardner led off the bottom of the first with a triple. Jacoby Ellsbury promptly drove Gardner in on a sacrifice fly, making it a 1-0 ballgame. Despite a good overall outing, Carrasco paid for the mistakes he made. In the fourth inning, Didi Gregorius added to the lead by hitting a solo homer on a hanging breaking ball.

The Yankees would add another run in the fifth with a short two-out rally. Jacoby Ellsbury drew a walk against Carrasco, and Mark Teixeira doubled him in. After announcing his impending retirement, Tex has come alive in recent games, possibly knowing that he is in the home stretch of his storied career.

In the top of the sixth, it looked like Tanaka was going to coast through the inning, but right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall wasn't going to go down quietly. After striking out twice earlier in the game, Chisenhall made Tanaka earn the third one in a 12 pitch at bat. Tanaka's competitiveness has made him a fan favorite for good reason, as he walked off the mound and gave the most angry-looking hat tip ever, clearly upset with himself despite getting the strikeout:

After giving up a leadoff double in the top of the seventh, Tanaka turned things over to Adam Warren, who failed to strand left fielder Rajai Davis. He gave up a walk and a hit, but managed to limit the damage to one run, due in part to a great defensive play from Mark Teixeira to retire the speedy Francisco Lindor. After snagging a hot shot down the first base line, Tex had to extend fully to beat Lindor to the base:

The party at Napoli's was cancelled in the top of the eighth, as first baseman Mike Napoli struck out looking for the third time. He voiced his displeasure to home plate umpire Lance Barrett, who ejected him after little discussion. However, the Tribe managed to cut the deficit to one run, as third baseman Jose Ramirez scored on a wild pitch from Dellin Betances. Betances had to enter the game early due to a shaky performance from Clippard.

In the ninth, Betances looked iffy as well. After a screaming line drive single from catcher Chris Gimenez started things off, Dealin' Dellin was able to induce a generate a grounder to get the double play. Brett Gardner did a good job holding Gimenez on first, making the 4-6-3 double play possible. He got Jason Kipnis to wrap up the win, finishing a series win against the red hot Cleveland Indians.

Here is the box score for today's game. The Yankees have the day off tomorrow, but head to Boston for a three game series on Tuesday. Stay tuned for A-Rod's final week in pinstripes.