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BASEBALL

Domingo German, New York Begin West Coast Trip In Oakland

After concluding their eight game homestand in the Bronx New York now heads west for nine games beginning in Oakland on Tuesday night when they open a three game series.

Domingo German will start the opening game for New York.

New York who is a member of the American League East and is leading their division comes into the opening game with a record of 83-43 while Oakland who is a member of the American League West comes into the game with a record of 71-53 and is second in their division. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/standings

As stated above,

Domingo German who has done a stellar job filling in for fellow right -hander Luis Severino who hasn’t pitched at all in 2019 because of a shoulder as well as a lat injury will get the start. The right -hander comes into the opening game with a record of 16-2 with an earn run average of 3.96. German has won each of his last four starts, posting a 3.70 ERA over that span against the Red Sox (twice), Blue Jays and Orioles. Look for the Yankees to begin scaling back his workload or skipping starts in order to limit innings. He will oppose Oakland right -hander Homer Bailey. who comes into the opening game with a record of 10-8 with a 5.22 earn run average. Bailey turned in his best outing as a member of the A's this past Wednesday, tossing seven scoreless innings in a win over the Giants. Facing the Yankees as a Royal on April 18, Bailey held New York to one run over six innings. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/roster/probable-pitchers

As for New York’s previous game,

They had to settle for a split against Cleveland on East Coast.

Two seasons ago, the Yankees faced the Indians as postseason underdogs, their overachieving band of "Baby Bombers" outlasting a 102-win juggernaut in the American League Division Series en route to advancing within one victory of the World Series. Those franchises may well be on a collision course for another October showdown. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-lose-finale-to-indians

That was the overriding takeaway from a four-game weekend set at Yankee Stadium that seemed to have a sprinkle of everything. The Indians secured a split by rudely welcoming CC Sabathia back from the injured list in the Yankees’ 8-4 loss on Sunday afternoon, but the series as a whole offered a tantalizing appetizer for what we might witness in a couple of months.”according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-lose-finale-to-indians

"We’d have liked to have won all four, but that’s a good ballclub over there that we’ll probably see down the road," Aaron Judge said. "It was fun. Those are series you like to play. It was tough. They were scoring runs, we were scoring runs, back and forth. It was a fun one to compete in.” “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-lose-finale-to-indians

The Bombers were trounced by 14 runs in Thursday's lopsided opener, then responded with a taut one-run win behind Masahiro Tanaka's sharp effort on Friday. New York slugged four homers in a spirited Saturday contest that featured the ejections of manager Aaron Boone, outfielder Brett Gardner and Sabathia, who was a day away from being activated from the injured list. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-lose-finale-to-indians

Boone remains supremely confident in his club, which dressed in button-down shirts sporting the Yanks' top hat logo and “Savages” in red script for their flight to the West Coast. When Boone looks across the way at Cleveland, he sees a versatile team that could improve its championship odds with an addition or two on the pitching side. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-lose-finale-to-indians

"We know that’s a team that is very capable," Boone said. "After a slow start to the season, they’ve really righted the ship and are playing really well in the second half here. Nothing changes with us. I think we’re really good. We still have a long way to go. We’re still in position to do something special." “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-lose-finale-to-indians

Returning from his second right knee-related IL stint of the season, Sabathia bypassed a rehab assignment in order to spend his bullets on the big league stage, so Boone only reasonably expected 60 or so pitches from the lefty. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-lose-finale-to-indians

"Just a little rusty, but I felt really good," Sabathia said. "I feel like it's something I can build off of." “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-lose-finale-to-indians

Most of those offerings were tossed in Cleveland's four-run second inning. Greg Allen knocked in a run on a fielder’s choice before the Tribe's No. 9 hitter, Mike Freeman, pounced on a lazy slider to blast his fourth homer of the year over the right-center-field wall. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-lose-finale-to-indians

It was just a bad pitch, just hung up there like a real hanger," Sabathia said. "I've been doing that a lot this year to the lefties, way too much. I need to tighten that up and start getting those guys out at the clip I normally do." “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-lose-finale-to-indians

The Yankees had few answers for right-hander Mike Clevinger, who picked up the win by striking out 10 over five scoreless innings. DJ LeMahieu hit a seventh-inning homer to keep the Yankees’ no-shutout streak alive. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-lose-finale-to-indians

“He just kind of kept us off-balance all day and we weren’t able to have that big inning against him," Judge said of Clevinger. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-lose-finale-to-indians

The Yanks have scored at least one run in 208 consecutive games since July 1, 2018, tying the 2000-01 Reds for the third-longest streak ever. The Major League record is held by the 1931-33 Yankees, who scored in 308 consecutive games. The 1978-79 Brewers (212) are second.

Francisco Lindor added a fourth-inning homer off Nestor Cortes Jr., and Oscar Mercado hit a two-run shot in the eighth off Luis Cessa.

New York scored twice in the ninth off Brad Hand, with LeMahieu and Judge driving in runs, but Hand retired Gio Urshela on a deep flyout that sealed just the Yanks' fourth loss in 20 games. Now they'll try to keep that pace on the road, playing 19 of their next 25 away from the Bronx. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-lose-finale-to-indians

"We’re going up against Oakland and the Dodgers and Seattle, good ballclubs right there -- especially that Dodgers series," Judge said. "It’s going to be like another postseason matchup, so it’s going to be rowdy and we’re motivated for those. We can’t wait. We want to play the best teams, and those are some of the best teams out there, so I’m looking forward to it.” “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-lose-finale-to-indians

Like New York, Oakland also had an off day on Monday and lost their previous game as they lost to Houston who is leading their division.

Sunday’s series finale against the Astros presented the A’s with a chance to conquer some demons by sweeping the American League West kings over four games for the first time since 2017. “according to https://www.mlb.com/news/brett-anderson-athletics-lose-to-astros

It wasn’t going to be easy, with Brett Anderson taking the mound against Houston’s prize of the 2019 Trade Deadline in Zack Greinke. Anderson did his best to keep up, but his uncharacteristic inability to consistently throw strikes caught up with him, while A’s bats went cold against Greinke in a 4-1 loss at the Coliseum. “according to https://www.mlb.com/news/brett-anderson-athletics-lose-to-astros

The loss moves Oakland to 7 1/2 games back of Houston for first place in the AL West and 1 1/2 back of the Rays for the second AL Wild Card. “according to https://www.mlb.com/news/brett-anderson-athletics-lose-to-astros

Anderson relied heavily on his slider to get out of some tight jams through four scoreless innings. Using it as his strikeout pitch to end the first and fourth, the left-hander tried to get it by Alex Bregman with two outs in the fifth. Bregman took the first one for a called strike two, but on an 0-2 count, he blasted the slider over the wall in left for a go-ahead three-run homer. “according to https://www.mlb.com/news/brett-anderson-athletics-lose-to-astros

“I had the potential to get out of a jam there and I tried too hard to make a perfect pitch,” Anderson said. “Instead of going down and in, it slid into his barrel. I knew he hit it hard, I was just hoping it wouldn’t get out.” “according to https://www.mlb.com/news/brett-anderson-athletics-lose-to-astros

What will likely leave Anderson more upset with himself were the four walks he issued, marking just the fourth time he’s surrendered more than two free passes in an outing over 25 starts this season. “according to https://www.mlb.com/news/brett-anderson-athletics-lose-to-astros

Anderson departed in the middle of an at-bat in the sixth, holding a 3-2 count against Robinson Chirinos, with a run already in on a double by Yuli Gurriel. The left-hander was bothered by a blister on his left hand, which may have attributed to him throwing only 48 of his 83 pitches for strikes. “according to https://www.mlb.com/news/brett-anderson-athletics-lose-to-astros

Anderson said the blister shouldn’t cause him to miss his next start. He also didn’t use it as an excuse for his four runs allowed on seven hits, saying it all came down to one bad slider. “according to https://www.mlb.com/news/brett-anderson-athletics-lose-to-astros

“I got a little bit of a blister, but the biggest story is I threw a horrible pitch to Bregman,” Anderson said. “Stuff wasn’t very good, command wasn’t very good, but I got out of some jams early.” “according to https://www.mlb.com/news/brett-anderson-athletics-lose-to-astros

Anderson has run into some tough matchups as of late. He was also narrowly outdueled by Giants ace Madison Bumgarner on Tuesday, now making it two unsuccessful attempts at matching a career-high win total of 11. “according to https://www.mlb.com/news/brett-anderson-athletics-lose-to-astros

“Last couple of starts with Bumgarner and Greinke, you’re not necessarily pitching against them, but you know the room for error is slim,” Anderson said. “I haven’t made the big pitch when I needed to.” “according to https://www.mlb.com/news/brett-anderson-athletics-lose-to-astros

A’s cant solve Greinke

Even if Anderson were able to make that big pitch, it may not have mattered. “according to https://www.mlb.com/news/brett-anderson-athletics-lose-to-astros

A’s hitters struggled to solve the puzzle on the mound that was Greinke, who allowed just one run on four hits and three walks while striking out six over seven innings. “according to https://www.mlb.com/news/brett-anderson-athletics-lose-to-astros

Marcus Semien gave the A’s the lead by blasting a leadoff homer in the fourth on a fastball left in the zone, but that was really the only mistake made by the right-hander. “according to https://www.mlb.com/news/brett-anderson-athletics-lose-to-astros

“It’s not his velocity. He does it a little bit differently than a lot of premier starters,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “He paints with his fastball. His changeup is almost the same speed as his fastball, yet it dives off the table and goes straight down. Curveball for chase, curveball for strike, sliders to the right-handers, he really doesn’t give you a whole lot to hit.” “according to https://www.mlb.com/news/brett-anderson-athletics-lose-to-astros

It all came full circle for Greinke. After making his MLB debut in Oakland on May 22, 2004, it was that same Coliseum where he notched his 200th career win on Sunday afternoon. “according to https://www.mlb.com/news/brett-anderson-athletics-lose-to-astros

“He’s a Hall of Famer in my book,” said Anderson, Greinke’s teammate with the Dodgers in 2015. “He can throw anything in any count. His range is anything from like 66-92 mph, which is incredible. Early on, he pitched with mid-90s velocity, and as he’s gotten older, he’s refined his pitches. He’s an uncomfortable at-bat.” “according to https://www.mlb.com/news/brett-anderson-athletics-lose-to-astros

First pitch is set for 10:07pm from Oakland Coliseum. The game will be televised on Yes, ESPN and NBCSCA.