New York Yankees 5 — Oakland Athletics 10
Vidal Nuno struggled right from the beginning of the game.
After a quick first inning on the offense, Vidal Nuno started the game and it was bad right away. Coco Crisp started the game with a single to center field. Craig Gentry would hit a single too but Yoenis Cespedes would strike out. The one positive would be overshadowed by a big negative. Catcher Derek Norris would hit a three-run home run to left field and the Yankees were instantly behind.
The Yankees would threaten in the second but no runs would score despite two runners on. The Athletics would not let up on the soft-pitching lefty. With one out in the second, Kyle Blanks and Nick Punto would hit a pair of singles before the lineup turned over. Coco Crisp would take a page out of Norris’ book and went left field. The line drive home run that just stayed fair would be of the three-run variety and just like that the A’s lead doubled to six.
A single and a walk to open the fourth inning would be the end of Vidal Nuno’s dreadful day. Rookie Jose Ramirez was tasked with being the first on for mop-up work. Ramirez would walk Crips to load the bases before an errant breaking ball would dangerously hit Craig Gentry on the head. Gentry would be okay but a run would score as a result. Two runs would score on the bases loaded single by Cespedes and later with two outs, Josh Donaldson would hit a run-scoring single. When the ball finally stopped finding grass, the A’s were ahead by 10.
In three plus innings, Vidal Nuno allowed eight runs on eight hits while striking out two and walking one.
A combination of Shawn Kelley, Adam Warren and Matt Thornton pitched four scoreless innings and gave the Yankees the opportunity for some fight. In the sixth inning, doubles by Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira would end the shutout. In the seventh inning, Carlos Beltran belted his sixth home run of the season and the Yankees had two on the board. A single and a pair of walks would load the bases for the Captain who productively hit a sacrifice fly to right field and the Yankees had three runs.
In strange occurrences, Carlos Beltran is guilty of losing track of outs in the eighth inning. After a one-out walk to Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran hit a ground ball to shortstop Jed Lowrie. After getting the force out at second, Beltran “abandoned first base” because he thought McCann was the third out. Beltran would be tagged for the third out of the inning and the unorthodox double play would end the inning.
Kangaroo court will be seeing you soon, Carlos Beltran.
In the ninth inning, struggling reliever Jim Johnson would give up a two-run home run to Brett Gardner and the 10-run lead is now cut down to five. Derek Jeter’s blow-out replacement Brendan Ryan would walk. Jacoby Ellsbury‘s blow-out replacement Alfonso Soriano would hit a single and Jim Johnson’s struggles could not be solved today. Reliever Luke Gregerson would be needed and their closer even had to begin warming up before the game finally ended.
Win – Jesse Chavez (6-4)
Loss – Vidal Nuno (1-3)
Notables
Yankees
*Carlos Beltran – 2 for 4, R, Solo Home Run (6) in the 7th, RBI (18)
*Brett Gardner – 1 for 4, R, BB, 2-Run Home Run (5) in the 9th, 2 RBI (26)
Athletics
*Derek Norris – 3 for 5, R, 2B, 3-Run Home Run (7) in the 1st, 3 RBI (29)
*Coco Crisp – 2 for 4, 3 R, BB, 3-Run Home Run (5) in the 2nd, 3 RBI (21)
Current Yankees Record: 35-33
