Yanks drop another one-run game in Oakland

Source: FanGraphs

Three games, three one-run losses. It is the Yankees’ first three-game losing streak since mid-June, when they lost two straight to the Braves at home then one on the road at CitiField. Let’s recap…

• Philbert: Phil Hughes pitched very well, but he made two mistakes and they both went for solo homers. That was enough to cost him the game on this night. Pretty ridiculous. Phil allowed just two hits through seven innings before Brandon Inge blasted a solo homer to kickoff the eighth. Yoenis Cespedes launched a dinger in the fourth. I thought Hughes actually had a pretty good changeup too, particularly the one he threw to strike out Josh Reddick in a 3-2 count with two outs and the go-ahead run on second and Cespedes on deck in the sixth. Hughes did his part, he was pretty awesome.
• No Runs: The Yankees have done nothing to dispel the myth that they can’t hit rookie pitches in this series even though they came into it with a 26-11 record against pitchers they’ve never before since 2010. Alex Rodriguez was the only consistent offense, reaching base and coming around to score the only run before leading off the ninth with a single and stealing second to put the tying run in scoring position. He also laced a first inning line drive that Jemile Weeks grabbed at the apex of his leap. Raul Ibanez plated the only run with a hard-hit ground ball back up the middle.
• Leftovers: Robinson Cano’s hitting streak came to an end at 23 games :( … Curtis Granderson drew a walk, the team’s first of the series … six of the New York’s first 23 plate appearances lasted just one pitch, which is terrible … the bottom five hitters in the lineup saw a total of 51 pitches in 16 plate appearances, which is also terrible … seemingly the entire infield botched a routine rundown in the eighth, but Coco Crisp bailed them out by getting picked off again a few batters later.

MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs a bunch of other stats, and ESPN the updated standings. The Orioles and Blue Jays won, the Red Sox and Rays lost. The lead in the division shrunk to seven games over Baltimore but is at least nine games over everyone else. CC Sabathia will look to salvage the series against former teammate Bartolo Colon on Sunday afternoon.