A-Rod hits his 8th homer, Yanks clobber Indians

Apr 18, 2007, 2:35 GMT

Bronx, NY - Alex Rodriguez hit one of three New York home runs in the second inning and lefty Chase Wright threw five innings to win his major league debut, as the Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 10-3, in the opener of a three-game series.

Rodriguez and Jorge Posada each drove in three runs for New York. Doug Mientkiewicz, Rodriguez and Posada homered in the six-run second for the Yankees, who rebounded from a loss at Oakland on Sunday. The Yankees moved to 15-3 over the last five-plus seasons at home versus the Indians.

The 24-year-old Wright (1-0), whose most recent start was last Wednesday for Double-A Trenton, was charged with five hits and three runs. He walked three and struck out three batters.

'I'm glad I came here yesterday (to Yankee Stadium). I was able to get all the other stuff out of the way,' Wright said. 'Today it was just, make sure I keep my eyes down and look at the mitt. Posada was great back there, he told me to relax, trust your stuff.'

After the game, Yankees manager Joe Torre was not committed to giving Wright another start.

'We'll see, we still have (Jeff) Karstens to consider, but we liked what we saw tonight,' Torre said. 'He was probably the only one not cold (tonight)...all that blood rushing to your head.'

Jake Westbrook (0-2) was roughed up for eight hits and eight runs over 1 2/3 innings, and saw his ERA rise to 12.08 for the year.

Travis Hafner homered for the Indians, who were hurt by three errors and had a two-game winning streak broken.

Mientkiewicz belted a solo shot to right field with one out in the second, extending New York's lead to 3-1. Johnny Damon doubled, and with two outs scored on a single to right by Bobby Abreu. Abreu then stole second, but trotted home when Rodriguez drilled a homer to left.

Rodriguez, who leads the majors with eight homers this year, has hit safely in each of the first 12 games of the season and 17 straight dating back to 2006.

Jason Giambi followed with a base hit, and Posada crushed a homer to center, the 200th of his career, moving the margin to 8-1 and sending Westbrook off the mound for good, as he was replaced by Jason Davis.

'I tried to just make him pitch,' Posada said. 'He's got a great changeup. I didn't try to do to much.'

Hafner homered with one out in the third and Andy Marte's single to center brought in Casey Blake in the fourth, cutting Cleveland's deficit to 8-3.

The Yankees tacked on two runs in the seventh thanks to a Cleveland blunder. Damon hit a potential double-play ball, but second baseman Josh Barfield threw the ball away at first, and two runners scored.

Wright had a hard time finding the plate in the opening inning, walking Grady Sizemore and Jason Michaels to start the game. However, Wright retired the next three batters, but Victor Martinez' grounder drove in a run.

Rodriguez singled in Damon in the bottom of the inning, and the Yankees loaded the bases before Posada lifted a sacrifice fly to center field.

The Indians put two runners on with nobody out in the second, but Wright retired the next three batters before New York broke the game open.

'That kid, he battled, he didn't give into it,' Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said of Wright. 'He did a good job of bearing down and not giving into the fight.'

Game Notes

There was a moment of silence before the game for the massacre at Virginia Tech...This was the opener of an eight-game road trip for the Indians, who will also take on Tampa Bay and Minnesota during the swing...Public Address Announcer Bob Sheppard celebrated his 56th anniversary as the legendary voice of Yankee Stadium Tuesday...The Yankees honored the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's entry into the majors in a special ceremony prior to the game by unveiling a plaque in Monument Park to memorialize Robinson's number 42...The Yankees have had 14 straight non-losing season series versus the Indians since going 4-7 in 1992.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

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