Yanks Smack Cleveland Again

The Yankees continue to reinforce the notion that they are good, but not great—better than the alleged class of the American League Central and West, but not yet in the same league as the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox.
Midweek, the Yankees were blown out of the water by Boston, losing three straight in a competition for first place. Then, the Cleveland Indians came to town—a team with a better record than either New York or Boston a week ago.

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Reuters

Curtis Granderson beats the throw home scoring on a double by Alex Rodriguez in the fifth inning of Sunday's win over the Indians.

And through three games, the Yankees have made them look like a team of minor leaguers, rather than the AL Central leaders they are.
The Yankees beat up on the Indians 9-1 on Sunday, with the victory coming on the heels of a crisp 4-0 win Saturday and an 11-7 blowout Friday.
"[Boston] made us look bad," said Brett Gardner. "Cleveland's been playing really well all year, but it doesn't matter who you're playing. It's important to get back on the right page, and we got there."
Sunday, with New York's Freddy Garcia twirling his full arsenal of splitters, sliders and changeups, the Indians whacked balls into the ground or hit weak flyballs, never really threatening the Yankees.
Every time they did, Garcia got a double-play ball or a strikeout to escape from danger, earning a standing ovation when he left after 6 2/3 innings having given up only one run.
"When you have a good outing, and you're in New York, they'll always do that," Garcia said. "You pitch bad, they'll boo you. I think that's the way it is."
New York's offense battered Cleveland pitching for 18 hits, including two doubles and a triple by Brett Gardner, and two hits—2,992 and 2,993—from Derek Jeter.
Seven Yankees had at least two hits, and Curtis Granderson went 4-for-4 (without a homer, for once) to raise his average to .279.
In fact, the Yankees won without doing two of their specialties. They didn't hit a home run, and they didn't get hit by a pitch. They had done both in the last five games.
Sunday, they won with sharp singles and ripped doubles.
"We've been swinging the bats well," Jeter said. "Up and down the lineup, guys have been getting on base, making things happen.''
They play Cleveland once more in this series, before welcoming AL West-leading Texas—another team the Yankees have beaten so far this year, posting a 4-2 record against the Rangers.
It all sets in stark relief that a team can lead one of the American League's lesser divisions and still be in a separate class from New York and Boston.
The Yankees are now 11-9 against the AL Central, 10-5 against the AL West, and 12-4 against all AL East teams not named the Boston Red Sox.
They didn't pick up any ground against Boston, who spent its day walloping Toronto to remain two games in front of New York.
Unfortunately, it will be another two months before the Yankees head to Boston again and can prove that they belong in the same class as Boston. Until then, they're forced to tackle the so-called powers of the Al Central and West.
"I thought we had a pretty good series against [Boston], and we came out empty," Jorge Posada said. "But we can't look back. We've got to keep an eye on who we're facing every day, and I think we're doing a good job of that."