Series Recap: Yankees start kickin' A's and taking names!
BRONX, N.Y. — All the New York Yankees need to do now is play with a lead from wire to wire. Nonetheless, the Bronx Bombers pulled off a solid series victory against an Oakland Athletics club that boasted one of the best records in the bigs.
GAME 1
It was a fairly anticlimactic 5-3 loss for what was the first game where Yankee Stadium could be open to full capacity. Oakland had the bigger numbers in power ball, whereas New York mustered a mere four hits.
The early seesaw affair saw the A's fire the first salvo on a Matt Olson tape-measure shot to right off Jameson Taillon in the first frame. The A's doubled their lead in the third inning on a Mark Canha RBI single to center.
On the other end of that seesaw, the Bronx Bombers eventually touched up ex-prospect James Kaprielian. DJ LeMahieu clocked a two-run tater to right-center in the home half of the third for the equalizer.
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New York took its first lead as Rougned Odor smoked a solo swat to center.
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However, Oakland's Tony Kemp dunked one over the wall in right-center off Wandy Peralta in the sixth inning and that was all she wrote.
GAME 2
It's incredible how the Yankees went from unwatchable to a convincing comeback 7-5 victory all in one afternoon.
The A's knocked around Domingo German, initially with a Kemp home run in the first frame, a Matt Chapman longball in the fourth frame, and a two-run single by Olson in the fifth inning.
From there though, the Yankees bullpen was essentially flawless. Nestor Cortes Jr. was the unsung hero with three scoreless frames, keeping the pinstripes alive. Chad Green also looked the best he has in a while with three Ks in one scoreless.
Gary Sanchez ignited the climb back with a solo smash to left off Chris Bassitt in the sixth inning.
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In the seventh inning, an Aaron Judge single off Burch Smith cut the deficit to one.
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Later in the frame, a Giancarlo Stanton RBI single to right off Yusmeiro Petit squared the contest at four.
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The heroics continued against Jesus Luzardo in the eighth inning. Gio Urshela, who knocked in the first Yankee run in the fourth frame and also had shards of his bat splinter off into his eye, delivered a huge solo homer to Monument Park as the Bronx Bombers took their first lead.
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Later in the frame, LeMahieu provided what turned out to be some much-needed insurance with a two-run single to left off Sergio Romo.
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Aroldis Chapman would let up a run in the ninth but whiffed the A's Chapman on a 103.4 mph pitch to close it out.
GAME 3
Once again the A's took an early lead but it's not how you start but how you finish. The Yankees did exactly that with a 2-1 victory.
Jordan Montgomery yielded a solo smash to center by Olson in the first frame. Yet, that was the extent of the A's offense.
While A's starter Sean Manaea recorded 11 Ks, he couldn't curtail the Yo Soy El Gary revival tour. In the sixth inning, Clint Frazier walked LeMahieu struck out, Manaea balked Frazier to second before issuing a free pass to Judge. That set it up for Sanchez. The Yankee backstop delivered with a two-run double to center for the eventual winning hit.
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In the ninth inning, the Yankees ended it in style, trying to make up for all of the double plays they hit into by turning their MLB record-tying third triple-play of the campaign. After walks to Jed Lowrie and Kemp, Chapman got Sean Murphy to bang into a 5-4-3 triple-play to close out the series.
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ON DECK
At 38-33, the Yankees play host next to the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium for a three-game series starting Tuesday evening.
Pitching probables, TBD vs. Gerrit Cole, TBD vs. Michael King, TBD vs. Jameson Taillon.