After a short three-game home stand, the Athletics flew back across the country to begin a three-game series against the New York Yankees. While it is still very early in the season, how the A’s play over the next few days against the perennial postseason contender Yankees could predict how they will fare the rest of the year.
Tonight followed the same predictable pattern as several of the A’s recent games. The team received a solid performance from its starting pitcher and enough offense to hold
a lead for several innings only for its bullpen to blow another lead in the late innings.
While some of the A’s pitchers are struggling, veteran right-hander Aaron Civale continues to excel. The 30-year-old, who signed with the A’s in free agency this past offseason, pitched five innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts. He worked out of trouble in the first inning, striking out Giancarlo Stanton to strand two runners on base. The next inning, Civale allowed his lone run, Amed Rosario’s solo home run to left field.
The Yankees’ lead did not last long. In the third inning, the A’s became the first team this season to score runs against Yankees starting pitcher Cam Schlittler. Third baseman Max Muncy and second baseman Jeff McNeil led off the inning with singles, center fielder Denzel Clarke sacrifice bunted the runners over and then they both scored on first baseman Nick Kurtz’s double to the right-center gap.
Later that inning, Kurtz scored on left fielder Tyler Soderstrom’s RBI double down the right field line.
The score would stay the same until the eighth inning; however, both teams had plenty of chances to alter the scoreboard before then. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Civale found himself in some trouble as the Yankees had two runners on with one out. The A’s starter managed to get out of that jam with the A’s lead intact, ending his outing on a positive note.
Up two, the A’s had multiple chances to extend their lead against Yankees relievers. In the top of the sixth inning, Muncy came up with Soderstrom on third base and Lawrence Butler on second base. Unfortunately, he struck out to end that scoring threat. The same situation happened two innings later. Muncy once again struck out in a situation where a base hit would have likely given the A’s a valuable insurance run. Muncy’s struggles were not limited to the plate. In the bottom of the seventh inning, he twice cleanly fielded ground balls hit to him at third base and then fired low throws to first that Kurtz had to scoop or stretch to catch.
The A’s first relief pitcher Justin Sterner pitched well over his two scoreless innings. His replacement for the eighth inning, fellow right-hander Mark Leiter Jr., did not fare as well. The former Yankee only got two outs, allowing four hits and four runs. Yankee designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton’s single, his team’s third in a row to begin the inning, cut the A’s lead in half. The Yankees were not done teeing off on their former teammate. Rosario crushed his second home run of the game, a three-run blast to left field, to put the Yankees up 5-3.
With the wind taken out of their sails in the wake of Leiter’s second blown save of the season, Yankees closer David Bednar retired the A’s in order in the ninth to earn his fifth save and seal his team’s comeback victory.The Athletics will try to bounce back from this crushing defeat tomorrow in the second game of the series. The team needs a bounce-back outing from scheduled starter Luis Severino in a place he called home from 2015-2023. He struggled in his last outing against the Atlanta Braves, walking five and allowing four runs in 3 1/3 innings. The Yankees counter with right-hander Will Warren, who is 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA in his first two starts.
