Oakland Athletics 1 — New York Yankees 2
The Yankees, mired in a four-game losing streak entering today turned to their stopper, Masahiro Tanaka.
In the first inning, catcher John Jaso put the A’s on the board with a solo home run to right field. Tanaka would bounce back and retire the next 10 batters faced. On the other side, the A’s sent lefty Drew Pomeranz to the mound.
The Yankees appeared to have a strong scoring opportunity when Derek Jeter hit a one-out single and Jacoby Ellsbury hit a two-run home run. However, replay would reverse the call and his home run was changed into a double. With two in scoring position and one out, Mark Teixeira hit a line drive to third baseman Josh Donaldson. The returning Carlos Beltran would strike out swinging to end the scoring opportunity.
With one out in the second inning, Brian McCann hit a single to left field that Brandon Moss took a strange angle to the ball. The ball would get by moss and McCann ended up on second base after the error. The struggling Alfonso Soriano would come up with an 0-for-16 skid on his bat. Batting in the eighth spot of the lineup, Soriano would take a hanging curveball the opposite way for a single to tie the game. The Yankees would end the inning on a double play but it did not take them long to get the lead on Pomeranz.
To open the third inning, Brett Gardner would hit his fourth home run of the season to give the Yankees the 2-1 lead.
The A’s would work deep into counts with Masahiro Tanaka and get him out of the game after six innings. In six innings, Masahiro Tanaka allowed one run on five hits while walking one and striking out four. It took 104 pitches to get through the start.
For the A’s, Drew Pomeranz retired the next 10 after the Gardner home run. The lefty would last seven innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on six hits while walking one and striking out seven. Pomeranz threw 101 pitches, as a telling sign of how the A’s worked Tanaka’s count deep.
After giving up the lead in yesterday’s game, Dellin Betances bounced back with a scoreless seventh inning of work, including one strikeout. For the eighth inning, Adam Warren was on the mound and Ichiro Suzuki replaced Alfonso Soriano in right field after his two-hit game. The first two batters would hit a pair of singles before Josh Donaldson struck out. Brandon Moss would hit a laser into right field where Ichiro defended, catching it to save a potential game-tying hit. A wild pitch would add to the pressure on Warren but the Yankees righty would throw a 96-mph fastball high and out of the zone to Yoenis Cespedes to get the strikeout he needed to keep the lead.
After blowing his save in his last appearance, David Robertson was back in for a one-run lead. Robertson would get a strike out to start the inning before a single put the tying run on the bases. Pinch-runner Craig Gentry would steal second base but Robertson would get a ground out and a called strike three for out three to end the game for his 13th save of the season.
Win – Masahiro Tanaka (9-1)
Loss – Drew Pomeranz (5-3)
Save – David Robertson (13)
Notables
Athletics
*John Jaso – 2 for 4, R, Solo Home Run (6) in the 1st, RBI (15)
*Brandon Moss – 2 for 4
Yankees
*Brett Gardner – 1 for 4, R, Solo Home Run (4) in the 3rd, RBI (23)
*Alfonso Soriano – 2 for 3, 2B, RBI (20)
Current Yankees Record: 30-29
