Yankees shut down by Cleveland again, 4-1

NEW YORK – Mark Teixeira gave his stitched left pinkie a test in batting practice. It passed. The Yankees could hope for a bolt of lightning from him to spark the dead wood from the day before.

But Teixeira had only a single to show for four trips to the plate Sunday against the Indians at Yankee Stadium after missing three games. And the rest of the hitters looked like they have on so many days this season.

Carlos Carrasco rejoined Cleveland's rotation from the bullpen on this day after going 0-12 with an 8.09 ERA in his previous 17 starts dating to July of 2011. The Yankees could barely touch him, managing two singles and no runs over five innings. The Indians went on to claim a 4-1 win in the rubber game of the series.

"When you play the Yankees, you feel it in your body," Carrasco said. "You want to throw a shutout."

Jacoby Ellsbury broke up the combined shutout bid by Carrasco and four relievers by hitting a homer with two outs in the ninth, snapping the Yankees' season-high streak of 19 innings without a run after putting up five in the sixth Friday night when they won 10-6. They managed five hits in the finale after managing only five hits in Saturday's 3-0 setback.

Teixeira credited the pitching, then stated the obvious.

"We haven't really been great all year," Teixeira said. "We just need to try to do our best and scratch runs when we can and pick it up a little bit."

They fell 2½ back of the Royals for the second wild card and remained six back of the Orioles in the AL East. Now the Yankees begin a large three-game series in Baltimore Monday night.

"We can't afford to lose any more ground," Teixeira said. "It's getting late for that."

It didn't help in this latest game that Hiroki Kuroda was off track.

Girardi pulled him after just 4²/₃. The 39-year-old righty (7-8) gave up three runs, five hits and four walks. He also hit one batter and threw a wild pitch. Kuroda indicated he was feeling less than perfect.

"I'm good enough to get out there on the mound," Kuroda said through an interpreter.

The Indians got one in the first when Jason Kipnis led off with a soft single to left and ultimately scored on Michael Brantley's single past third.

They got another in the third on a sac fly by Brantley.

When Kuroda walked Yan Gomes to force in a run in the fifth, manager Joe Girardi had seen enough.

"All of my pitches and my command were really not good today," Kuroda said.

Neither was the lineup. The Yankees made 15 straight outs along the way. Girardi said the punchless stretches of games by this team are just part of today's game.

"I think we got caught up with teams scoring 900 runs in the past," Girardi said. "That's not happening anymore."

Extra bases: Bryan Mitchell worked two innings of no-hit, one-walk, two-strikeout ball in his big-league debut. "First experience, pretty nervous, just trying to make pitches and get outs," Mitchell said. The 23-year-old righty became the 31st player to pitch for the Yankees this season, extending their franchise record.

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