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Javier Vazquez first win in almost a month New York Yankees defeat the Oakland Athletics

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Javier Vazquez first win in almost a month New York Yankees defeat the Oakland Athletics

Javier Vazquez picked up his first win in almost a month as the New York Yankees defeated the Oakland Athletics, opening up their three-game stint at Oakland Coliseum with a 3-1 win on Monday night.  Vazquez was solid throughout the game, getting himself out of trouble in a couple of spots and pitching well to allow only one run over the course of seven innings. Mariano Rivera, who recently blew just his second save of the year against the Toronto Blue Jays, came in on the ninth and retired all three batters he faced, to pick up his 19th save of the year. Vazquez, who hadn’t won since June 12, lifted his record to 7-7 on the year.

Ben Sheets, Oakland’s starter, pitched just over seven innings and allowed all three Yankee runs, but showed why as a pitcher it’s better to play for the 51-31 Yankees rather than the 41-43 Athletics. While his ERA at a respectable 4.89 is almost identical to Vasquez’s 4.81, Sheets dropped to 3-8 on the year with the defeat.  "He had a good start, he went deep in the game. I thought he was aggressive, threw strikes," said Oakland manager Bob Geren. "We just didn't get much offence for him tonight."

Additionally Vazquez was helped out by two diving catches in the seventh by Curtis Granderson and Colin Curtis.
“That was unbelievable in the seventh innings those two catches by Grandy and Colin,” Vazquez said. “We’re playing good. We still feel we can play better. Hopefully it says something that we’re 20 games over.”

A solid, encouraging performance from the Yankees
It may have been unspectacular, but the Yankees have to be happy tonight with the performance they got from all three pitchers in the line up. If they are going to continue to maintain their lead atop the tough AL East division for the rest of the year, consistent pitching is what they’ll need, and they got it on Monday night.

After Vazquez left the game, Joba Chamberlain, occasionally unreliable did exactly what he had to do and retired all three batters he faced for the hold, his eighteenth of the year, and paved the way for Rivera to do what he does best. Chamberlain and Rivera only needed 11 and 10 pitches each, respectively, to get their scoreless innings.
“Trust me, I’m happy the way our guys are playing,”  New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “I’m pleased with how hard they’re playing and everything. But I think we can even get better.”

Additionally the Yankees managed to score their runs early, picking up two in the second off of Sheets after Nick Swisher doubled and was knocked in by Curtis Granderson’s triple. He in turn was scored by Franscisco Cervelli, and the 2-0 lead would never be relinquished. Coco Crisp knocked in the Athletic’s lone run in the third, but Yankees’ first baseman Mark Teixeira knocked one out of the park for a solo home run in the sixth, his 14th on the year.

Yankees look to keep rolling
With the Yankees seemingly beginning to settle into a consistent groove with half of the season left to play, they’ll look to continue their success on Tuesday night against the Athletics.  With three wins in a row, they are slowly beginning to make it seem as though the top of the division is theirs to lose.  After dealing with Oakland, they’ll be moving onto Seattle for another four games, after which they’ll be able to rest up for the All-Star break.

As for the Athletics, the loss is only their third in their past ten games. Scoring a win or two against the Yankees would do well to help them climb back towards .500 at the All-Star break.

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