Indians' win over Yankees is richly deserved

By Bill Shaikin

Oct. 9, 2007 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees were the famous team in this series. They were the team with the glamour, the riches, the stars.

But the Cleveland Indians were the best team in this series, the team that represents a city that would treasure a championship, as opposed to a team with an owner that considers it a birthright.

Winter came early for George Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ owner. He grew up in Cleveland, a city awaiting its first World Series parade since 1948.

“This city needs the championship,” Cleveland outfielder Kenny Lofton said.

The Indians dismissed the Yankees from the playoffs Monday, with Grady Sizemore leading off the game with a home run and Cleveland rolling to a 6-4 victory at Yankee Stadium. The Indians whipped the Yankees in four games and advanced to face the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series, starting Friday at Fenway Park.

“This,” Sizemore said, “is what you dream of.”

Said Paul Byrd, the starting and winning pitcher: “We’ll study Boston and figure all that out later, but nothing is tougher than coming into Yankee Stadium and pulling this off.”

The Yankees lost in the first round of the playoffs for the third consecutive season. They hit .228 in the series, and posted an earned-run average of 5.89. The Indians hit .315, with an ERA of 3.41.

Cleveland scored all six runs Monday in the first four innings, then sweated out the final innings. They led, 6-1, after five innings, but Robinson Cano hit a solo home run in the sixth and Alex Rodriguez hit one in the seventh, for Rodriguez his first home run -- and run batted in -- over 57 postseason at-bats dating to 2004.

With one out in the ninth, Bobby Abreu hit a solo home run, making it 6-4, as close as the Yankees had been since the first inning, but Rodriguez flied out and Jorge Posada struck out.

As the Indians hopped deliriously around the field, the Yankees stared from their dugout, in apparent disbelief. They probably won’t be together again.

Rodriguez, the MVP in waiting, can leave if he wants. Roger Clemens, the Hall of Famer in waiting, can leave if he wants. So can Mariano Rivera, the legendary closer, and Posada, the sturdy catcher.

And Joe Torre, the manager, could be fired. He has led the Yankees to the playoffs in each of his 12 years, and he has won four World Series championships, but the last was in 2000 and Steinbrenner is impatient for another.

“This has been a great 12 years,” Torre said. “Whatever the hell happens from here on out, I’ll look back on these 12 years with great, great pleasure.”

With the Yankees on the verge of elimination, Torre opted to start Chien-Ming Wang on short rest over Mike Mussina, a move that could hardly have turned out worse.

Wang got through the Indians’ lineup once, and then Torre yanked him. The Indians scored twice in the first inning, on the home run by Sizemore and on a single by Jhonny Peralta.

In the second, Franklin Gutierrez and Casey Blake singled, then Wang hit Kelly Shoppach, loading the bases. Mussina rushed in from the bullpen to restore order, but not before two more runs scored.

There is no mystery in the Yankees’ loss. They play arena baseball every summer against the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and then every fall they flail away against elite starting pitching without an elite starter of their own.

Cleveland routed their alleged ace, Wang, for four runs in one inning Monday, 12 runs in 5 2/3 innings in the series.

The Yankees had no arm as strong as C.C. Sabathia or Fausto Carmona in losing to the Indians this year, no arm as strong as Justin Verlander or Jeremy Bonderman in losing to the Detroit Tigers last year, no arm as strong as John Lackey or Kelvim Escobar in losing to the Angels two years ago.

The Yankees could get there, with Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, and with Joba Chamberlain in relief. They could see the future in this series, in which they would have been swept had Hughes not rescued them after Clemens’ injury in Game 3.

“This ballclub, they have a great future,” Torre said. “The young kids who came down the pike here, that’s something different for the Yankees.”

bill.shaikin@latimes.com

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Hit and miss

A look at the Yankees in the divisional playoff series the last 10 seasons:

2007: Lost to Cleveland Indians, 3-1

2006: Lost to Detroit Tigers, 3-1

2005: Lost to Angels, 3-2

2004: Beat Minnesota Twins, 3-1

2003: Beat Minnesota Twins, 3-1

2002: Lost to Angels, 3-1

2001: Beat Oakland Athletics, 3-2