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Facing Yankees youngster Phil Hughes for the first time, the Indians struggled to put together runs behind Fausto Carmona. Josh Barfield's solo homer in the fifth inning was the third of just four Tribe hits off Hughes.

CLEVELAND -- Manager Eric Wedge's synopsis of the Yankees before Friday night's game came down to one phrase.

"They can swing it," Wedge had said.

And that attribute did not run both ways in the game that followed.

The Indians' offense did little to help out starter Fausto Carmona and went back to the anemic tendencies it had been displaying much of this month, as the Tribe fell, 6-1, in front of a sold-out crowd of 41,675 at Jacobs Field.

In the quiet clubhouse afterward, a freshly showered Carmona slammed a few items around in his locker and stormed out before talking to reporters. Apparently he had as little to say as the Indians had runs to provide.

As a tribute to baseball pioneer Larry Doby, every member of the Tribe lineup was wearing Doby's retired No. 14. But not one of those No. 14s was able to generate a rally off young Yankees right-hander Phil Hughes.

"He pitched well," first baseman Ryan Garko said of Hughes, who was making his second start since his return from a lengthy stint on the DL. "He was hitting his spots all night. He wasn't giving us a lot of good pitches to hit."

That's not to say the Indians, who are averaging just 3.4 runs over their last 18 games, were in full cap-tipping mode.

"I still believe it's more about us," Wedge said. "Not to take anything away from the kid, but we still need to do a better job. It's been a while since we've been consistent offensively and done things we can count on."

The Indians can generally count on a stellar start from Carmona, but this one was more on the average side.

Carmona got some key ground-ball outs, including double-play balls in the second, fourth and sixth innings, but he gave up a second-inning solo homer to Alex Rodriguez, and he allowed the Yanks to move runners into scoring position and manufacture three other runs in his seven innings of work.

Still, the negativity from this loss can hardly be shifted toward Carmona.

"I thought he threw the ball well," Wedge said. "They pushed in a couple runs against him. That's a good-hitting ballclub, and they're going to give themselves every opportunity. But I was impressed with the way he handled himself. He still gave us every opportunity to come back in the ballgame."

The comeback never came. The only run the Indians mustered came when Josh Barfield lifted Hughes' first-pitch offering over the center-field wall for a solo shot in the fifth. It was Barfield's first homer since May 25, snapping a skid of 238 at-bats without a blast.

But once Barfield's homer cleared the fence, the Tribe bats went back to their nap. Even after one 21-year-old, Hughes, came off the mound and another, Joba Chamberlain, came on, they continued to go down quietly. Chamberlain looked downright filthy in pitching two scoreless innings of relief, and Aaron Fultz looked the opposite in allowing the Yanks to add on a pair of runs in the eighth.

As good as the Yankees' pitching was on this night, for Wedge, the focus remains on his own club.

The Indians' bats had appeared to have a bit of an offensive awakening Thursday night in Chicago, only to come out with a thud in the opener of this five-game homestand.

"I felt we had showed signs we were coming out of it," Wedge said. "Today was probably a step back, in that regard. These guys have got to keep grinding. What we can't do is be stubborn and keep beating our head against the wall and keep making the same outs."

What they need to do, then, is take a cue from the Yanks and "swing it."

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Hey Banez, how bad did it chap your ass when A-Rod went yard on Carmona?

Madtowntripper said:

Keep hoping, chief.

Winning the division is less and less likely every day, and with all those teams a-scrapping for the Wild Card, I dont see how even a degenerate Yankee-Lover like yourself could give that set of Pinstriped Goons any more than an even money shot to make the postseason.

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A No-Name Bullpen may have been sufficient to stymie the Injuns on this particular night, but one game does not a World Series run make. Until they actually DO IT, I dont see how you can expect these guys to pull it off in the post-season. If these guys were that good, they would have been playing before.

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Nobody is arguing that you can hit. That is beyond question. But a lights-out bullpen? Keep touching yourself, because I think its the most excitement your going to have for awhile.

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