No relief in the Bronx
A rock-solid, lock-down bullpen has been one of the few constants in what has mostly been a very streaky 2015 season for the Yankees. But Tuesday night followed a different script. Chasen Shreve and Dellin Betances each allowed a solo homer — a game-tying shot in the sixth inning and a tie-breaking blast in the 10th inning — as the Yankees suffered another painful loss in the series opener against the A’s.
For Betances, it was the seventh homer he’s allowed in his career and the first time he’s given up a home run in back-to-back appearances. Before surrendering Steven Souza’s longball on Sunday afternoon, Betances hadn’t been taken deep since August 13 last season. Then bam, wham, two in a row.
Lawrie’s go-ahead homer came on an 0-2 breaking ball, a situation that normally would be a near-automatic out for Betances. Before Tuesday, hitters were 1-for-39 with 31 strikeouts after going down 0-2 against the Yankees right-hander.
This loss was another one of the “you can’t predict baseball” variety. The A’s entered this game 0-6 in extra innings and 6-21 in one-run games this season, both of which were the worst marks in baseball. So, of course, they won a one-run game in the 10th inning against the Yankees.
Tex marks the spot
Mark Teixeira was a one-man highlight reel in Wednesday’s 5-4 win over the A’s, hitting two homers and making several fantastic defensive plays that likely saved the game for the Yankees.
He’s now got 17 homers against the A’s as a Yankee; since the A’s franchise moved to Oakland in 1968, the only Yankees with more homers against them are Roy White (18) and Tino Martinez (18). As of Thursday morning, Teixiera had been credited with 18 “out of zone” plays, the most among all AL first baseman this season.
CC Sabathia was not dominant but pitched well enough (5 1/3 IP, 2 R, 7 H) to earn his 95th win in pinstripes. That ties Ray Caldwell — who pitched for the Yankees from 1910-18 — for 17th place on the franchise all-time wins list. It was also his 212th career win, passing Billy Pierce for sole possession of 23rd place among left-handers in major-league history.
Andrew Miller allowed two runs in the ninth inning but still got the final three outs to seal the win. He’s now 18-for-18 in save opportunities, matching the second-longest streak to being a season in Yankee history. The only longer streak came in 2008, when Mariano converted his first 28 saves.
Gardy goes yardy
The Yankees won their final home game before the All-Star break, 6-2 over the A’s, thanks to an ace-like performance from Masahiro Tanaka on Thursday afternoon. Tanaka got into trouble in the second inning but then retired 18 of the final 19 batters he faced — the only guy to reach in that span was Billy Butler on a wild pitch/strikeout.
Both of the hits Tanaka allowed came off his fastball; the A’s went 0-for-19 with six strikeouts in at-bats ending in an off-speed pitch, including 0-for-11 against his splitter. Filthy. He now has three career games of at least seven innings pitched and two-or-fewer hits allowed. Since he joined the team last season, the rest of the Yankee pitchers have combined for one such game (Michael Pineda).
Tanaka shared the spotlight with Brett Gardner, who went 3-for-5, including his 10th homer of the season, and found out that he was named to his first All-Star Game (replacing the injured Alex Gordon). Gardner is just the fifth Yankee to hit at least 10 homers, 20 doubles and steal 15 bases before the All-Star break. The others? Johnny Damon (2006), Raul Mondesi (2003), Alfonso Soriano (2002) and Rickey Henderson (1986).
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