CLEVELAND - Joba Chamberlain allowed two runs in a career-high eight innings, and the New York Yankees set a record for consecutive games without making an error in a 5-2 victory against the Cleveland Indians last night.
Chamberlain (3-1) retired the first 11 batters before Victor Martinez's home run in the fourth. He allowed four hits, walked two and struck out five.
Mariano Rivera worked a perfect ninth for his 11th save in 12 chances.
New York played error free for the 18th straight game, surpassing Boston's mark of 17 games set in 2006. New York's last error came May 13 at Toronto when shortstop Ramiro Pena misplayed a ground ball.
Nick Swisher doubled home a pair of runs against Greg Aquino (1-1) and Alex Rodriguez singled home two more in a four-run seventh inning as the Yankees won for the 15th time in 19 games.
It was plenty of support for Chamberlain, who was making his first start at Progressive Field since midges swarmed him during the American League Division Series in 2007. The bugs were distracting him when he walked Grady Sizemore and threw two wild pitches that enabled Cleveland to tie - and ultimately win - the game. The Indians went on to eliminate New York in four games.
This time, the midges didn't affect Chamberlain - and neither did Tribe batters.
The Indians ran themselves out of a scoring chance in the fifth, thanks to a tremendous diving catch Chamberlain turned into a double play.
New York 001 000 400 – 5 6 0
Cleveland 000 100 100 – 2 4 0
New York AB R H BI Avg. Cleveland AB R H BI Avg.
Jeter ss 3 1 2 0 .311 A.Cabrera ss 4 0 0 0 .312
Swisher rf 4 1 2 2 .236 B.Francisco cf 4 0 0 0 .268
Teixeira 1b 3 0 1 0 .282 V.Martinez dh 4 1 1 1 .348
A.Rodriguez dh 4 0 1 2 .259 Choo rf 4 1 2 0 .301
Posada c 4 0 0 0 .297 Jh.Peralta 3b 2 0 0 0 .266
Cano 2b 4 0 0 0 .308 DeRosa lf 3 0 0 1 .262
Me.Cabrera lf 3 0 0 0 .316 Garko 1b 2 0 0 0 .252
Berroa 3b 2 0 0 0 .143 J.Carroll 2b 3 0 1 0 .294
