It was a hot 80 degrees at Yankees Stadium today as the Yankees come from behind to beat the Cleveland Indians 7-3.  The Indians were held to a short amount of runs because of stellar pitching by AJ Burnett and some great defensive plays by Nick Swisher.

AJ Burnett picked up his sixth win of the season by completing eight innings and gave up five hits and struck out eight.  The Indians had three runs, but only one was earned.  This is also the first game AJ has pitched in pinstripes where he hasn’t given up a walk. 

It was important for AJ to go deep into this game.  He said, “My main goal coming into the game was to get the ball to Mo in the ninth and give those guys a break.”  Those guys he’s referring to are the guys in the bullpen who have been overworked lately.  When asked about the importance of winning this game after yesterday’s loss, Burnett said it was important.  “That’s what’s good about his club.  We turn the page.” 

Mariano Rivera closed in the ninth inning and gave his usual God-like performance by striking out two of the three hitters he faced.  Mo also made a very athletic play when leaping from a shattered bat to retrieve the ball to get the final out.

Nick Swisher made some amazing plays out in right field.  In the first inning he tracked down a long line drive to right by Hafner.  He played to ball so well he was able to get it to Cano quick enough so Hafner would be held to a single.  In the fourth inning he made a leaping catch that could have been an off the wall double.  What impressed me about Swisher on this play was that he wasn’t paying attention to how many outs there were.  That was the final out of the inning and he played it back to the infield as if it was only the first out.  Props to you Swish for playing the game hard and with heart.

Swish wouldn’t admit,  however, whether or not he forgot how many outs there were.  He laughed and told the media, “I told Robbie (Cano) that I just wanted to get the ball to him as quick as I can so he can give it to a kid in the stands.”

Swisher gave us a scare in the seventh inning when trying to make a catch at the wall.  He crashed into the wall and was lying on the ground for a few seconds.  The wall may be padded, but there’s hard concrete right behind it.  Swish had the wind knocked out of him but he seemed okay after.  You could tell his arm was sore when he was running because he wasn’t pumping his right arm.  A little bit of ice and he should be in tip-top shape for tomorrow.

“I met the fiberglass today and we said hi,” says Swisher.  When asked about his arm he said, “Still a little tight, but tomorrow is a new day.”

The seventh inning was a huge inning for the Yankees.  Swisher singled to center and moved to second on a Juan Miranda groundout.  Brett Gardner then singles up center to move Swish to thrid.  Derek Jeter comes up with two outs and, thanks to Gardner’s speed, was able to get a two RBI single to make the score 3-2 Cleveland.  Curtis Granderson comes up with a two out double moving Jeter to third.  Next batter:  Mark Teixeira.  He SMASHED a three-run homerun into the left field bleachers for his eight of the year and 250th of his career.  Hopefully this will be an AB that helps Teixeira get back on track to being the RBI hitter he is.

“I haven’t worried about Teix one bit,” says Nick Swisher.  “Just look at the back of his baseball card.”

In the eight inning, Juan Miranda hit an RBI double and Francisco Cervelli hit a sacrific fly to extend the Yankee lead 7-3.

On Cleveland’s side, Justin Masterson pitched very well this afternoon.  He pitched 6.2 innings, gave up seven hits and three runs and struck out eight.  He was taken out of the game after giving up two runs in the sixth inning.  Tony Sipp came in to relief Masterson but continued to struggle.  He gave up two hits and a three-run HR that put the Yankees ahead.  They Yankees never looked back.