New York Drops Opener To Oakland
Eight days ago New York was out west for a series in Oakland where they lost the opening game of that series 6-2.
You would think returning to the Bronx to face the team they lost to would help turn things around but on Friday night that wasn’t the case in the opening game of their three game series.
In what has become something of a trend, the Yankees suffered two familiar losses.
One was a player to injury; in this case, it was CC Sabathia, who left the game after three innings with another right knee issue. The other was a game to the Athletics, opening the three-game series at Yankee Stadium with an 8-2 loss to Oakland, their fourth in four meetings this season. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-fall-to-athletics-cc-sabathia-injured
Although October has typically been a different story -- New York has eliminated Oakland from the postseason three times since 2000, most recently in last year's American League Wild Card Game -- this latest trend has to be concerning to a Yankees team with championship aspirations. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-fall-to-athletics-cc-sabathia-injured
"We're a confident group, whoever we play," manager Aaron Boone said. "Obviously, Oakland beat us up a little bit out there and got us here, but as far as how that affects us moving forward and who we'll see, I don't worry about that at all." “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-fall-to-athletics-cc-sabathia-injured
Sabathia allowed one run over the first three innings, the lone Oakland hit against him coming on Jurickson Profar's second-inning home run. But Sabathia left the game prior to the fourth as his troublesome right knee -- one that has already landed the lefty on the injured list twice this season -- apparently flared up with what the Yankees termed "discomfort." “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-fall-to-athletics-cc-sabathia-injured
"I could tell early on tonight that he was struggling with it," Boone said. "The warrior that he is, he pitches as effectively as he did." “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-fall-to-athletics-cc-sabathia-injured
Didi Gregorius' RBI fielder's choice tied the game in the third inning, while Mike Tauchman's bases-loaded double play -- which came after Boone challenged a double play, getting both outs correctly overturned to set up a bases-loaded, no-out opportunity -- gave them a 2-1 lead. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-fall-to-athletics-cc-sabathia-injured
Luis Cessa threw a pair of scoreless innings in relief of Sabathia, but Tommy Kahnle had his worst outing since early June, allowing three runs in the sixth after giving up just four runs total over the past two months. Profar's two-run double highlighted the frame for Oakland, which added two more runs in both the seventh and ninth innings to extend a lead it would never relinquish. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-fall-to-athletics-cc-sabathia-injured
"We pretty much haven't seen that outing," Boone said of Kahnle. "The occasional time he has even gotten dinged, they may have run into a homer off of him or something, but for them to string a little rally against him ... I don't think he had his fastball command. It wasn't much of a factor for him tonight. Overall just not very sharp, which he's been as much as anyone on our club. He's been so efficient and so sharp time after time, but tonight was just an off one for him." “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-fall-to-athletics-cc-sabathia-injured
Left-hander Brett Anderson limited the Yankees' offense to two runs over six innings, giving up six hits and two walks, striking out one. Yusmeiro Petit followed with two perfect innings, then Blake Treinen retired the side in order in the ninth to finish up the win. The Yankees didn't have a hit after the fourth inning as Oakland retired the final 16 New York hitters. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-fall-to-athletics-cc-sabathia-injured
"Certainly it's going to happen from time to time where you go through a stretch where they're going to hold you down for a handful of innings, whatever it might be," Boone said. "It is a little bit unusual, because I always expect our guys to do some damage at some point. Credit to them; they were able to run through us there, and after they were able to rally in those middle innings, their pitchers really held it down." “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-fall-to-athletics-cc-sabathia-injured
Meanwhile, Oakland got another win against New York in the opening game but this time in the Bronx.
The Athletics returned to Yankee Stadium for the first time since they lost the American League Wild Card Game last October. One thing was clear: The A's didn't let that Wild Card loss haunt them in any way on Friday night. “according to https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/jurickson-profar-leads-athletics-over-yankees
Left-hander Brett Anderson pitched six solid innings and second baseman Jurickson Profar drove in three runs as the Athletics defeated the Yankees, 8-2, in front of a sellout crowd of 47,265. The Athletics (78-56) pulled within a half-game of the Wild Card-leading Indians and remained a game ahead of the Rays for the second AL Wild Card spot while improving to 4-0 against the Yankees this year. “according to https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/jurickson-profar-leads-athletics-over-yankees
"The energy, you can feel it. It's just awesome to be out there. It kind of helps you stay focused," said rookie Seth Brown, who went 3-for-3 with three RBIs off the bench. "It's unbelievable." “according to https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/jurickson-profar-leads-athletics-over-yankees
"We just believe in each other. We know everybody here has each other's back," Profar said. "It doesn't matter who we play, we just compete." “according to https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/jurickson-profar-leads-athletics-over-yankees
It was Profar who gave Oakland the lead off CC Sabathia in the second inning when he hit a solo home run into the left-field seats. It was the fifth time this season Profar homered in back-to-back games and his second consecutive game with three RBIs. “according to https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/jurickson-profar-leads-athletics-over-yankees
"He has been swinging the bat great," manager Bob Melvin said. "He is doing some of his best work -- certainly offensively and swinging the bat better right-handed, too." “according to https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/jurickson-profar-leads-athletics-over-yankees
Profar said he has been trying to keep everything simple at the plate. “according to https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/jurickson-profar-leads-athletics-over-yankees
"I try to separate my defense and hitting," Profar said. "Early in the year, I [wasn't separating them] and it was bad." “according to https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/jurickson-profar-leads-athletics-over-yankees
By the fourth inning, the Yankees had a 2-1 lead against Anderson. Luke Voit scored the go-ahead run on a double-play groundout by Mike Tauchman. But it was all Oakland after that. In the sixth inning, the Athletics scored three runs off reliever Tommy Kahnle. Profar fueled the rally with a two-run double.
And credit goes to Brown, who came in as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning and provided the game-tying hit. Brown also has recorded a hit in seven consecutive at-bats. “according to https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/jurickson-profar-leads-athletics-over-yankees
"He is living a dream. He is on cloud nine," Anderson said. "What he is doing is phenomenal. He has made an impact right away. Hopefully he will continue to ride this way." “according to https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/jurickson-profar-leads-athletics-over-yankees
Brown said he feels more comfortable every day. “according to https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/jurickson-profar-leads-athletics-over-yankees
"You have to stay ready every night," Brown said. "Coming off the bench, I knew I needed to put up a quality at-bat. Coming up there, I was able to get a good pitch to hit [in the sixth inning] and hit it hard." “according to https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/jurickson-profar-leads-athletics-over-yankees
Brown said he feels more comfortable every day. “according to https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/jurickson-profar-leads-athletics-over-yankees
"You have to stay ready every night," Brown said. "Coming off the bench, I knew I needed to put up a quality at-bat. Coming up there, I was able to get a good pitch to hit [in the sixth inning] and hit it hard." “according to https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/jurickson-profar-leads-athletics-over-yankees
The A's scored four more runs the rest of the way. Marcus Semien highlighted the scoring with a home run off Nestor Cortes Jr. to lead off the ninth. “according to https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/jurickson-profar-leads-athletics-over-yankees
As for Anderson, he settled down by the fourth inning, retiring the last seven hitters he faced to pick up his 11th victory of the season. It was remarkable he went that far. Anderson said he was tired after the fourth inning but gutted it out, throwing 56 of his 86 pitches for strikes. “according to https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/jurickson-profar-leads-athletics-over-yankees
"I just threw it and just hopefully the hitters hit it at somebody," Anderson said. "I'm not going to strike people out. I pitch to contact. ... They last two innings, they hit it at somebody. “according to https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/jurickson-profar-leads-athletics-over-yankees
"It was a grinding game. My pitch count wasn't super high. You have to make quality pitches and continue to get outs. I gutted it through six. I was mentally and physically exhausted." “according to https://www.mlb.com/athletics/news/jurickson-profar-leads-athletics-over-yankees
New York and Oakland will return to the diamond in the Bronx on Saturday afternoon where New York will look to bounce back and even the series while Oakland will look to win the series.