On the Yankees beat

10:28 -- That's it. Yankees go down without a fight in the ninth and lose the first game of this series. Final: Indians 5, Yankees 3.

10:17 -- Indians add to their lead in the top of the ninth and Rafael Betancourt is to close it out for the Tribe. Crowd here is trying to urge the Yankees on.

10:10 -- Yankees bats have gone completely dead. They've done nothing since the fourth and are in big trouble. We go to the ninth.

10:00 -- Joba is in, and as we know it's all about Joba. He walked Sizemore to lead off the eighth and then Peralta with one out before pinch hitter David Dellucci took him deep to right for a three-run homer. Ouch. A very un-Joba like performance by No. 62. Indians 5, Yankees 3.

9:41 -- Yanks still can't solve the Indians bullpen and we head to the eighth.

9:28 -- Pettitte left with one out in the seventh and Kyle Farnsworth came in to take over. Farnsy, as Joe Torre would call him, struck out Kelly Shoppach and got Andy Marte to fly out to end the inning with a runner on first.

9:18 -- Status quo. Yanks don't get to Perez. ... Oh yeah, forgot to mention some of the Giants assistant coaches were here to flip the switch to lower the number of remaining regular-season games to 65. No sign of Michael Strahan, though.

9:02 -- A one-out throwing error by the captain leads to nothing and the Yankees still hold a one-run advantage. Pettitte has allowed two runs on four hits through five. Rafael Perez is in to relieve Carmona so he is indeed done. Pettitte is over 90 pitches, so his night could be ending soon, too.

8:54 -- Abreu getting mowed down at third with one out on Matsui's hard single to right changed the complexion of the fifth and the laboring Carmona is off the hook. Gotta believe his night is done. The Indians coaches have worn a path to the mound tonight with all the visits.

8:41 -- Pettitte appears to have found some sort of rhythm. He's struck out three in the last two innings.

8:34 -- Matsui's leadoff walked paid off as Giambi laced a pitch to left just over the head of Francisco, scoring Hideki all the way from first. Robinson Cano, who has been struggling, singled in Giambi to put the Yanks back on top. Yankees 3, Indians 2.

8:17 -- Indians get to Pettitte. With one out in the fourth, Jhonny Peralta homers on a 2-and-1 pitch over the adidas sign in center to put the Tribe on the board. Pettitte did strike out the final two batters of the inning and stranded a runner at second. Indians 2, Yankees 1.

8:03 -- We're through three. Bobby Abreu was thrown out trying to steal second for the third out. Yankees aren't getting to Carmona yet.

7:51 -- Pettitte maneuvers around a leadoff infield single and thanks to Jose Molina gunning down Ben Francisco from his knees, he escapes without any damage done.

7:40 -- Yanks go quietly in their half of the second. Wilson Bettemit lined out hard to right in his first AB. Guess he is seeing the ball well just as he indicated to me in the clubhouse before the game.

7:33 -- Are there many others out there who field the pitching position as well as Pettitte? He made that snare of Ryan Garko's chopper look a lot simpler than it should have been. He's sharp so far, which is good news for the Yankees' mix-and-match starting pitching staff.

7:26 -- Hideki Matsui extends his career-high hitting streak to 15 games with a single and the Yanks get on the board on Jason Giambi's bases-loaded fielder's choice grounder to first. Yankees 1, Indians 0.

7:15 -- Roderick Boone here at Yankee Stadium checking in. Nice start there for Pettitte. Three easy outs, two coming on lazy pop ups. Beautiful day/night at The Stadium by the way. Game time temp is a balmy 73 degrees. I'm sure my man Anthony Rieber is jealous. It's been pretty cold when he's been here.

Pregame chatter

Cleveland Indians (14-17) at Yankees (17-16), 7:05 p.m.

Starters: Fausto Carmona (3-1, 2.60) for the Indians and Andy Pettitte (3-3, 3.93) for the Yankees

Notable: The Yankees try for their season-high fourth straight win this evening. Tonight begins a three-game series against the Indians at Yankee Stadium.

History lesson: Pettitte is 6-8 lifetime against the Indians with a 4.63 ERA in 17 starts. Carmona has made five career appearances against the Yankees, including two starts, and is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA.