New York Yankees beat Oakland Athletics 4-3 to maintain winning streak
The New York Yankees presented the fans in the Yankee stadium with a special win last night as they beat the Oakland Athletics 4-3 in their third encounter of the series. The victory meant that the side had done enough to clinch the game set and supersede their Division opponents, Tampa Bay Rays, with a position on the top of the American League East Division table. The A’s were unable to save the series and failed to thwart their opponents in front of a crowd of 45,222 fans.
Oakland Athletics wanted to save the series as they brought Brett Anderson on for the save. The rookie 22-year-old pitcher had a low earning run average of 3.17, but his recent 3 losses in 4 games meant he was a risky choice. And that proved to be the case in the second innings when his performance dipped considerably. He conceded 8 hits, 4 runs and 2 walks in his 6 innings of play.
Similarly, the New York Yankees brought back Allen James Burnett whose last five games resulted in 4 losses. The prolific pitcher had seen 9 wins and 12 defeats in the season and through some great practice, found a way back to the mound once again. Much to the delight of manager Joe Girardi, the veteran performed well and conceded 6 hits, 3 runs and 2 walks in his 6 innings of play. He further went on to strike out 8 hitters during the fixture.
The Oakland Athletics were the ones to start the match with the hitters on the plate but it was the Yankees who jump started the scoring phase of the fixture. Derek Jeter started the bottom 1st innings with a single to the centre. Nick Swisher was the next person to come in. However, his form from the last encounter didn’t reflect early on as he swung out to Brett Anderson. Mark Teixeira walked in and as many may know already, the hard hitter has been phenomenal in the season. Mark went on to prove his mettle as the batsman smashed a double to the deep left centre and got Jeter through for the first run of the game.
The next run came in the bottom 2nd innings, with a lot of responsibility tied to the A’s pitcher. Derek Jeter was on the plate. Curtis Granderson and Eduardo Nunez were on the second and first base, respectively. Anderson fumbled up a throw and caused the Oakland team a major concession as Curtis got through the last base and the other hitters moved up a base. The Yanks were now 2 runs up and the pitcher was now feeling the brunt of the pressure.
The innings was not over yet and Brett got another scare when Nunez stole the third base. Amidst all this confusion, Swisher walked and Jeter made it to the second base. Unfortunately, all bases were piled up and Teixeira came in to take up batting responsibilities. Things were taken to a whole new level of pain for the Athletics when former Texas Rangers batter singled to the left and got Nunez and Jeter through the last base for 2 more runs.
The Oakland side was down 4-0 and the damage had been done. A. J. Burnett pounded the strike zone with impressive pitching and the hitting faction wasn’t able to connect early on. The Athletics were not connecting well but the top 4th innings changed the situation for the better. Kurt Suzuki had doubled to the right early on and he was safely positioned on the second base. Much to the surprise of the Yankees, Kevin Kouzmanoff, who came in after Jack Cust struck out, brought the A’s to a preferable score line when the power hitter smashed a 377 feet homer to the right and brought in two runs for the team.
The Athletics kept their heads up and Coco Crisp provided the 3rd run for the team in the top 5thinnings. Rajai Davis had earlier hit a ground rule double to the deep centre. Later on, he stole the third base. Crisp gave him the last push when he grounded out to the second to get Oakland their third run for the match. However, that ended the scoring initiative from any side as the bullpen came in to contain the attack and stall the flow of singles and doubles.
The match ended with the Yankees on top and the game concluded with the team 4-3 on top. This means the teams have one more encounter to go ahead with and Oakland Athletics will try to avoid a clean sweep when they face the World Series Champions tonight.
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