With Their Confidence Showing, the Yankees Complete a Sweep

Yankees 5, Indians 3

CLEVELAND, Aug. 12 — When Andy Pettitte walked off the mound at Yankee Stadium on July 1, in the midst of a seven-run second inning, the Yankees were on their way to a loss that pushed them four games below .500.

Six weeks later, they are the hottest team in the majors, with 29 victories in their past 39 games after a weekend sweep of the Cleveland Indians, who tumbled out of first place in the American League Central. The Yankees are believers, and all the evidence is with them.

“I feel like we're the team, you know?” Pettitte said Sunday. “It doesn't surprise me. I'd be extremely disappointed if this team didn't get to the playoffs. That's just kind of the way I feel.”

An hour or so after Mariano Rivera snuffed an Indians rally in the bottom of the ninth to finish a 5-3 victory, the Baltimore Orioles came back to beat the Boston Red Sox. That cut the Yankees' deficit to four games in the A.L. East, the closest they have been since April 24.

snuff v. 【俚】扼殺，謀殺

It is no wonder that so many players watched the Red Sox game in the clubhouse late Sunday afternoon. The Orioles are coming to the Bronx on Monday, but it is Boston the Yankees are chasing. The Yankees are in a virtual tie with Seattle for the wild-card lead.

Cleveland was supposed to be a test for the Yankees, who had played weaker teams since mid-July. But the Indians are in a free fall, losing 13 of their past 20 games. Their aggressive hitting approach backfired during the weekend series.

The Yankees' pitchers went 23 innings without issuing a walk during the series, and they held the Indians to six runs over all. Three came in the last three innings Sunday, after the Yankees had built a 4-0 lead.

The Indians squandered their chance for more runs. They loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh, and with first baseman Andy Phillips playing behind the bag, Jhonny Peralta took a big lead. Pettitte and Phillips sensed an opportunity.

squander v. 浪費，揮霍

“It's something Andy and I have talked about in the past, to have a heads-up for that play,” Phillips said. “He's got such a tremendous move even when I'm holding the runner.”

For the first time this season, Pettitte threw to first without a fielder stationed at the bag. Phillips sneaked behind Peralta to snag the throw, and then chased him up the line for the out. The Indians scored on a sacrifice fly, but they were deflated.

deflated a. 洩氣的

“That was a big letdown for them, and certainly a big pick-me-up for us,” Manager Joe Torre said.

letdown n. 鬆弛，失望

The Yankees' pitching coach, Ron Guidry, was ejected after the inning for arguing balls and strikes. So when Rivera got in trouble in the ninth, it was Torre, not Guidry, who visited him on the mound.

Cleveland had scored once in the eighth, an inning Rivera had finished after Luis Vizcaíno allowed a run-scoring single. Two singles opened the ninth, and when Franklin Gutiérrez doubled to drive in a run, Torre trotted to the mound. His concern, Torre said delicately, was that “guys that you felt he should have better luck against” were getting hits. His real fear was that Rivera was hurt.

trot v. 慢跑，急行
delicately adv. 微妙地

This was the ninth time Torre had asked Rivera to get a save of more than one inning, something he had vowed not to do in spring training. “You O.K.?” Torre said he asked Rivera, who replied that he felt fine.

Rivera then proved it. He struck out Asdrubal Cabrera and Grady Sizemore before getting Casey Blake to fly to right to end the game. It was the 19th save in a row for Rivera, who seemed unfazed by the extra workload.

“I've been doing that for a long time,” he said. “You train for that and you have to be ready for that situation. I know Joe doesn't want to use me in that situation, but when we have to go for it, I am that person.”

Pettitte said he was so nervous in the ninth, he could not bear to watch the game on the clubhouse television. Jason Giambi, the designated hitter, said he was not as worried watching Rivera.

“You get spoiled,” said Giambi, who bashed a two-run homer in the fourth inning. “You don't panic. You know he might give up a few hits, but you don't think the other team is ever on top of it.”

Since his return from the disabled list last week, Giambi has eased into a part-time role without complaining. How could he? Melky Cabrera, who also homered Sunday, has established himself as an everyday starter on a team that is winning nearly every day.

“You don't want to come in and disrupt the ball club,” Giambi said. “You just want to be a part of it. Everything's great.”