GAME 84

YANKEES 9, INDIANS 2

To anyone who has been watching CC Sabathia pitch this season, there is no doubt — except for a very biased manager in Texas — that he is an All-Star pitcher. All you have to do is poll the Cleveland Indians delegation on Tuesday night.

Sabathia toyed with his former team by shutting them out over seven innings and striking out 11 for his ninth victory in his last 10 starts and Curtis Granderson blasted a pair of home runs as the Yankees gave the Indians an old-fashioned whupping at Progressive Field.

Sabathia (12-4) struck out double-digit batters for the second consecutive start and for the 25th time in his career as he became the first pitcher in baseball to record 12 wins.

Meanwhile, Sabathia’s mound opponent, Carlos Carrasco, endured a nightmare second inning in which an inning-ending double play was not completed. It ended up costing Carrasco and the Indians five runs as the Yankees sent 10 batters to the plate in the frame.

Carrasco (8-5) gave up a one-out single to Nick Swisher in the second and he then issued walks to Jorge Posada and Brett Gardner to load the bases. Francisco Cervelli hit what appeared to be a routine double-play ball to Asdrubal Cabrera. Cabrera recorded the out at second but rookie second baseman Cord Phelps bounced his relay throw to first and first baseman Carlos Santana was unable to glove it, allowing Swisher to score the first run of the game.

Derek Jeter followed with a two-run double to the wall in center-field that scored Posada and Cervelli. Granderson then followed with his 24th home run of the season into the right-field bleachers to give the Yankees a 5-0 lead.

Granderson later led off the fourth inning with an even longer blast to right for his 25th home run and his third in the past two games.

The Yankees added three runs in the eighth inning off reliever Chad Durbin but Sabathia was in control and really did not need all that support. He gave up just five hits and walked two and left having thrown 100 pitches, 69 of them for strikes.

The Indians scored two runs in the ninth off Yankees rookie right-hander Lance Pendleton.

With the victory the Yankees improved their American League-best record to 51-33 and they remain 1 1/2 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox in the A.L. East. The Indians fell to 45-39.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

• It is pretty obvious that the Rangers’ manager, Ron Washington, should be required to take another drug test after leaving Sabathia off the All-Star team. His reasoning: Sabathia was sixth on the players’ ballot and he wanted to choose Rays lefty David Price and his own lefty C.J. Wilson instead. Sabathia is 12-4 with a 2.90 ERA. Price is 8-7 with a 3.56 ERA and Wilson is 8-3 with a 3.09 ERA. Considering that Sabathia entered Tuesday’s game with a 8-1 record and a 2.90 ERA in his last nine starts, Washington has to be on the crack pipe again. Sabathia is pitching on Sunday, which will not make him eligible to pitch in the game anyway, but he deserves the selection because he has a bonus clause in his contract. Washington is scum. Is this Cliff Lee negotiations payback?
• Granderson continues his marvelous 2011 season. He is 4-for-9 (.444) in the series with three home runs, a single, four runs scored, a walk and four RBIs. His 3-for-6 night raised his season average to .278 and he has 25 home runs and 62 RBIs. It is a good thing the fans voted him to start the All-Star Game. Washington likely would have chosen Nelson Cruz instead.
• Jeter collected two hits in the game and he now has 2,996 for his career. He remains four short of the record with the Yankees scheduled to play four games at home against the Tampa Bay Rays before the All-Star break. There is a good possibility his 3,000th hit could come at home in that series.
• All the Yankee starters, except for Cervelli, registered multiple hit games. The Yankees pounded out a total of 17 hits. They bombarded Carrasco for six runs on 10 hits and three walks in only four innings. The beating could have been worse, too. The Yankees left 11 runners on base.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

There was absolutely nothing to criticize in this thrashing. They got dominant starting pitching from their ace and they scored nine runs. This is about as good as it can get for a team looking to win a championship.

BOMBER BANTER

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera remains day-to-day with a sore right triceps. Rivera, 41, played catch before the game and reported improvement. But he said he likely would not pitch unless it was an emergency.  . . .  Eric Chavez, 33, continues to have problems with injuries, even when he is on the disabled list. The Yankees said Chavez suffered a strain in his abdominal muscle following a workout in Tampa, FL. He is flying to New York for further tests. Chavez, who has been on the 60-day disabled list since May 6 with a fractured left foot, also was slowed last week with a back strain. He was hitting .303 and was a valuable reserve at first and third base.  . . .   Manager Joe Girardi said the Yankees will likely rest Jeter on Wednesday since he is just coming off the disabled list.

ON DECK

The Yankees will play the rubber game of the three-game series with the Indians on Wednesday and it will be an important day for the starting rotation.

The Yankees will start 25-year-old right-hander Phil Hughes (0-1, 13.94 ERA), who was activated off the disabled list with inflammation his right shoulder and will make his first start since April 14. He is 2-0 with a 3.50 ERA against the Indians.

The Indians will send right-hander Justin Masterson (6-6, 2.85 ERA) to the mound. Masterson earned his first victory since April 26 in his last start on Friday. He gave up one run on four hits in eight innings against the Reds. He is 1-2 with a 3.80 ERA against the Yankees.

Game-time will be at 7:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be telecast nationally by ESPN and locally by the YES Network.