The first game of the Division Series between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians featured a match-up of two 19-game winners. The Yankees sent ace Chien-Ming Wang to the mound to face Cy Young candidate C.C. Sabathia. The Yankees jumped on top early when Johnny Damon led off the game with the homerun on the fifth pitch he saw. The 1-0 lead for the Yankees did not last long, however, as Wang surrendered three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Wang struggled throughout the game, pitching four and two-thirds innings allowing eight earned runs. The Yankees forced Sabathia out of the game after five innings, but the deficit proved to be too much to overcome. The Indians hit four homeruns in the game, including two off Wang. Asdrubal Cabrera and Victor Martinez took Wang deep in the third and fifth inning, respectively. Ross Ohlendorf relieved Wang and allowed three earned runs including a homerun to Travis Hafner. First baseman Ryan Garko had three hits for the Indians including a homerun off Phil Hughes in the eighth inning to extend the lead to 12-3.

Game two featured a spectacular pitching duel between Yankees veteran Andy Pettitte and the playoff rookie Fausto Carmona. Carmona went 19-7 with a 3.06 ERA in his first full season as a starter. Carmona tossed nine great innings allowing just three hits and one run. Melky Cabrera put the Yankees up 1-0 with a third inning homerun. Pettitte kept the Tribe off the board in his six and a third innings when he handed the ball to rookie pitching phenom Joba Chamberlain. Chamberlain shut down the Indians to take a Yankees lead into the bottom of the eighth inning. In the bottom of the eighth a swarm of insects invaded Jacobs Field and began crawling over Chamberlain and the rest of the players. Chamberlain, distracted by the bugs, threw a wild pitching allowing Grady Sizemore to score the tying run. The game went into extra innings tied at one. Rafael Perez pitched two hitless innings to keep the Yankees from taking the lead. In the bottom of the eleventh inning the Indians loaded the bases against Yankees reliever Luis Vizcaino. Travis Hafner stepped to the plate and ended the game with a single to right field scoring Kenny Lofton as the Indians defeated the Yankees 2-1.

The Yankees faced elimination in Game 3 and turned to Roger Clemens to pitch them back into the series. Clemens, battling a hamstring injury, made his first start in three weeks. The Indians sent former Yankees prospect Jake Westbrook to the mound. Westbrook went 6-8 with a 4.32 ERA in the regular season. Clemens struggled early allowing a run in each of the first three innings. Phil Hughes came out of the bullpen for the Yankees and pitched three and two-thirds scoreless innings to keep them in the game. The Yankees trailed 3-1 entering the bottom of the fifth inning. The Yankees offense, which scored just four runs in the first two games, woke up. Melky Cabrera hit an RBI single and Johnny Damon hit a three-run homerun to right field to give the Yankees a 5-3 lead. The Yankees offense added three runs in the sixth inning when Robinson Cano hit a bases-loaded single which was misplayed by rightfielder Trot Nixon allowing all three runs to score. Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera secured the 8-4 victory pitching the final three innings and forcing a fourth game.

The Yankees, fresh off an 8-4 victory in Game 3 sent Chien-Ming Wang to the mound on three days rest to try to extend the series to a fifth game in Cleveland. The Indians countered with 15-game winner Paul Byrd. Grady Sizemore put the Indians on the board early with a leadoff homerun. Cleveland scored four runs in the first two innings to chase Wang out of the game in the second inning. Mike Mussina entered the game in relief and pitched four and two-thirds innings. Byrd kept the Yankees off balance for five innings, and the Indians took a 6-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning. Robinson Cano hit his second home run of the series ending Byrd’s night. The Yankees chipped away at the lead with solo homeruns by Alex Rodriguez and Bobby Abreu in the seventh and ninth innings, respectively. The Yankees could not recover from the early deficit falling to the Tribe 6-4, ending the series and the Yankees season.