New York Yankees vs. Oakland Athletics – 2012 MLB Series Review
New York Yankees met Oakland Athletics 4-3 at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, California on Thursday, July 19 in the opening game of their four match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Yankees entered the series with an impressive 57-34 record and by far, they were the favourites to emerge victorious. However, the unpredictable Athletics had other ideas as they held off their opponents to secure a narrow 4-3 win.
Yoenis Cespedes provided the A’s with a perfect start as he homered to left in the first inning to put the A’s 2-0 ahead. Seth Smith singled to right-centre in the third inning to extend the lead to 4-0.
As they have done on a number of occasions this season, New York were looking to come back from behind to snatch a stunning victory but that did not turn out to be the case as Oakland held on to a one run lead to take 1-0 lead in the series.
"There's always that feeling based on the fact we've had so many," manager Bob Melvin said. "There's always that feeling when we get into the last at-bat at home."
Similar pattern of play was observed in Game 2 of the series as well with the A’s taking an early 2-0 lead through Brandon Inge’s double to deep-right. Russell Martin and Robinson Cano homered in the eight and the ninth to level the score as they added some
spice to the proceedings.
However, the A’s were not prepared to give up. Brandon Moss singled to right in the bottom of the ninth to deliver an emphatic win.
"You get a couple of runs off the relievers and you figure, you know what, maybe we're going to be able to come back and get ahead," Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi said. "But we weren't able to."
With momentum on their side, the A’s continued to play their natural style in Game 3 of the series. Starting pitcher Jarrod Parker showed great pitching skills as he threw eight effective innings for his seventh win of the season. Allowing just a run and
five hits, he played a key role in determining the outcome of the game.
Former Tigers’ second baseman hit the tie breaking home-run in the eighth inning to give the A’s an impassable 3-0 series lead.
"What you guys see right now is what we feel," Inge said. "As far as things in this clubhouse, we're having a blast. I think that's leading to a lot of wins."
Another close win in the finale gave the Athletics a well deserved series sweep against the American League East Division leaders.
Brandon Inge, Kurt Suzuki and Seth Smith homered and Coco Crisp singled home the winning run to stun the Yankees.
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