Yankees smash the Athletics to the top of the American League
The Oakland Athletics have been doing well in the American league this season and even though they have been trailing the Texas Rangers by 10 games, they did go into the series with a game set win over their West Division leaders. This fixture however, was a different ball game anyways. The team was facing the New York Yankees and the side had a hard task to achieve - beating the World Series champions. Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to be easy. The A’s lost the first match and needed a victory last night to save the situation.
Vin Mazzaro started for the Athletics last night and his Earning Run Average (ERA) of 4.05 was a pleasant sight on the management’s eyes. The expectation was to quell the Yankees’ attack, but the outcome wasn’t pretty, to say the least. The ball thrower went into the match with no wins in his last 6 games. The results from last night added more pressure on Oakland. The player conceded 7 hits, 9 runs and 3 walks. He pitched 102 times in his 3.2 innings of play and managed to just strike out 3 players.
The Yankees however, were locked on the top of the East division table, with the Tampa Bay Rays and a victory was a must. A win had to be gained to clinch the series from the Athletics. And Phil Hughes provided the safe result as 4.10 ERA star pitcher got his 16th win of the season subduing the opponents to just 2 runs in his 5 innings of play. The ball thrower struck out just 1 hitter in his 98 pitches but managed to concede just 4 hits, 2 runs and 5 walks. If it wasn’t for Hughes, most believed the match could have swayed any way but the ace man’s presence was morale boasting for the roster. He follows the top ranking in the league performer, Carsten Charles Sabathia, who is also part of the Yank’s pitching crew.
Robinson Cano got the show on the road when he got the Yankees to their first run of the match through Brett Gardner, by a grounder into double play. The hit got the Yanks on top in the bottom 1st and the scoring did not end there as the roster was in high spirits for the fixture. Derek Jeter got the 2nd for the ball club when an error by second baseman Mark Ellis presented the opportunity for the side to bombard the Athletics with added pressure. Nick Swisher then went on to score in the innings when the New York catcher, Jorge Posada tripled to the deep left for the 3rd run of the night.
The Oakland side was spread out and they responded in the top 3rd with Coco Crisp, who got through the last base, off Kurt Suzuki’s sacrifice fly hit to the centre. The Athletics were 1 up now but Swisher drove the initiative forward with as he scored again in the bottom 3rd. Mark Teixeira was on the base when the power hitter got on the bag and made his mark with a massive homer to the right, getting 2 added runs on the board. That hit got the Yankees to 5 and the Athletics on the back foot to respond. The A’s responded in the top 4th with Kevin Kouzmanoff who got the first run for himself with Rajai Davis’ grounded out to the second.
Unfortunately, the 2 runs amassed by the Athletics were not good enough to pressurize the Yanks. The New York side made their move again in the bottom 4th as Curtis Granderson homered to the right for the 6th of the team. However, a mega hit was up for grabs as Ramiro Pena and Brett Gardner filled the bases. Teixeira got on the score sheet again and it was through an enormous home run smash down the right side of the ball park. Three runs came off the shot and the Yankees got to 9 runs on the board.
The Athletics were put under the sword, early on and the team couldn’t reply in the game until the top 7th with D Barton’s homer to the right. That hit was the last scoring move by both teams and the fixture ended with Oakland 3 – New York 9.
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