NEW YORK, N.Y. - Josh Tomlin had his second impressive start since returning from shoulder surgery, Cody Allen worked out of his own jam in the ninth inning Thursday night and the Cleveland Indians held on for a 3-2 victory over the New York Yankees.

Tomlin only allowed Alex Rodriguez's 680th career home run leading off the fourth and a double to Chase Headley in seven deliberate innings. The right-hander has been touched for just three runs and seven hits in 13 1-3 innings since coming back from his second major operation since 2012.

Allen took over with the score 3-1 and gave up a leadoff single to A-Rod, who surprised most everyone in the ballpark and stole second.

Several players took exception with umpire Dan Iassogna's strike zone throughout the night, right into the ninth: After Brian McCann was called out on strikes and had a brief conversation with Iassogna, manager Joe Girardi raced from the dugout and was instantly ejected. He proceeded to dig a line in the dirt near home plate and yell at Iassogna.

Carlos Beltran singled in a run and rookie Greg Bird walked. But Headley grounded to first for the second out and Allen got Didi Gregorius to fly out to end it for his 24th save.

Lonnie Chisenhall hit an RBI double, and Michael Brantley — still limited to designated hitter because of a sore shoulder — and Jose Ramirez had RBI singles off Ivan Nova (5-5).

Losers of four of five coming in, the Indians got help from their new-look outfield of converted infielders Ramirez and Chisenhall and newcomer Abraham Almonte. They took two of three from the AL East leaders last week in Cleveland, and won the opener of this four-game series.

Almonte made a long running, leaping catch at the wall in right-centre in the sixth on a drive by Brett Gardner. Chisenhall made a diving catch of Carlos Beltran's sinking liner to open the seventh.

Working as slowly as Tomlin, Nova got in trouble twice because of walks. Chisenhall hit a hot shot to right-centre to score Carlos Santana from first in the second, and Ramirez drove in Almonte after the centre fielder walked in the fourth.

Nova had won four of his previous five starts, but he failed to get to the sixth Thursday, needing 94 pitches for five innings.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Indians: Brantley (sore right shoulder) was the DH again. "There's not a rush" to get him back in the outfield, manager Terry Francona said. ... RHP Gavin Floyd (elbow surgery) gave up four runs while getting one out in his first rehab start. He's been out all season. General manager Chris Antonetti said Floyd was healthy and felt great. He also said Floyd could possibly return late this season, but "there are a number of things that need to happen before that. But Gavin deserves a ton of credit for the way he has embraced the rehab process."

Yankees: RHP Michael Pineda (forearm strain) is scheduled to throw about 65 pitches for Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes/Barre in his second and likely final rehab start. ... 1B Mark Teixeira (right shin bruise) was still out of the starting lineup, but Girardi said the slugger "was moving around better today."

UP NEXT

Indians: RHP Carlos Carrasco (11-9) has the lowest average against (.184) when pitching on the road. He's 4-1 with a 1.55 ERA in his last seven outings away from Progressive Field. He gave up two runs and four hits over eight innings against New York in Cleveland on Aug. 11.

Yankees: RHP Masahiro Tanaka is coming off a complete game win at Toronto. He was tagged for five runs and 10 hits over 6 2-3 innings in his only start against Cleveland, last season.