Stumbling Yankees Fall To Second

It seemed that after regaining first place by taking two of three from the Blue Jays last weekend, then sweeping the Twins this week, the Yankees had righted-the-ship and were gaining steam toward September.

Not so fast. And, certainly not if they're playing the Indians.

The Yankees fell 4-3 on Sunday in the Bronx, losing three of four in the series and dropping a half game behind Toronto in the AL East. Cleveland is a struggling club this year, but took five of seven meetings between the two teams in the last two weeks.

It appears they also lost C.C Sabathia for at least a little while, although this may be a case of addition by subtraction going forward. Sabathia is 4-9 on the year with a 5.27 ERA. He didn't factor in Sunday's decision, having left in the third inning with knee pain, and it's believed he's likely headed for the DL. C.C. gave up a long first inning homer to Carlos Santana before his exit.

But, it was another Cleveland home run much later that turned out to be the deciding factor. Francisco Lindor's solo-blast in the eight off Dellin Betances (6-3) turned out to be the game winner, and sucked the life out of Yankees Stadium just a half inning after Carlos Beltran rallied the home crowd with a two-run, game tying double.

The AL West leading Astros open a three-game series in the Bronx on Monday night. New York will throw 13-2 Nathan Eovaldi against Scott Feldman, 5-5.