Chaos erupts as Yankees beat Indians 6-5

If you missed today’s game, you missed plenty of drama. There were home runs and ejections galore, at least on the Yankees’ side. James Paxton stumbled out of the blocks per usual, but the offense was able to get to Cleveland and hang on for a 6-5 victory.

Paxton has to be the most frustrating pitcher on the team. In the top of the first inning, he issued a leadoff walk to Francisco Lindor, Oscar Mercado doubled, and Carlos Santana knocked a two-run single. Paxton settled down until the sixth, when Santana and Yasiel Puig both hit RBI singles. He ended the day with six hits, four earned runs, three walks, and four strikeouts across five innings.

The Yankees picked up their pitcher, however. Mike Tauchman and DJ LeMahieu both hit RBI singles early, then Didi Gregorius and Gleyber Torres hit back-to-back home runs to right field. LeMahieu hit a solo shot of his own in the fifth to give the Bombers a 5-4 lead.

The game took a strange turn in the sixth inning. Following Gleyber Torres’ second home run of the game (!), what should have been ball four to Cameron Maybin ended up being a called third strike. The ball was definitely outside of the zone, and Maybin had a word with the umpire. Aaron Boone started chirping from the dugout and was ejected, then Brett Gardner was ejected for banging his bat on the roof of the dugout. CC Sabathia, who is on the injured list and not an active player, was somehow also ejected. It was a scheduled rest day for Aaron Judge, so Thairo Estrada shifted into the outfield to replace Gardner.

Adam Ottavino and Tommy Kahnle cruised through an inning of work each, but Zack Britton got into trouble in the eighth. Puig hit a leadoff double, Jose Ramirez singled, then Puig scored on a wild pitch. Thankfully, Britton induced a double play and managed to escape further damage. Aroldis Chapman tossed a 1-2-3 inning to close out the game.