A's Flunk Yankees - How Low Can You Go?

Coco Crisp ruins my afternoon - courtesy of sfgate.com

It appeared the Yankees would salvage the finale of the four game set in Oakland with the Athletics after losing to the A's kiddie corp three straight nights. After all, the Yankees had built a 4-0 against ex-teammate Bartolo Colon and had their ace, CC Sabathia, on the hill.

But after Curtis Granderson gave the Yankees a 4-0 lead with his 26th home run in the 4th inning, the Yankees offense went to sleep. Meanwhile the A's chipped away on solo home runs by Saturday's hero Brandon Inge, and catcher Kurt Suzuki and trailed 4-3 when Sabathia departed after seven innings.

David Robertson escaped a jam in the 8th, but closer Rafael Soriano was not so lucky. Soriano, who has been so good in place of the injured Mariano Rivera, served up a gopher ball to Seth Smith in the 9th to tie the game 4-4 for just his second blown save of the season.

It would stay that way until the 12th inning when Coco Crisp singled off Cody Eppley to bring home Derek Norris with the winning run. It completed the first ever four game sweep of Yankees by the A's in their home ball park. Each game was decided by one run, three of them in Oakland's final at-bat.

The afternoon started out as nicely as the 70 degree, sunny weather in Oakland. Mark Teixeira smacked the Yankees' fourth straight single to start the 3rd inning to put the Bombers on the board. Alex Rodriguez followed with a 2-run double for a 3-0 advantage.

Sabathia was sharp at the start, but was victimized in the 5th by Inge and Suzuki, who both pulled home runs into the left field seats. Colon, on the other hand, settled down and allowed just three more hits after the 3rd inning. Granderson's solo shot seemed to seal the deal, but the A's never-say-die attitude caught up with the Sabathia and the Yankees' pen.

Notes


Robinson Cano had his 23 game hitting streak snapped on Saturday, but had two hits on Sunday.

Derek Jeter didn't start the game, but came in as a late game defensive replacement.

Baltimore's victory moved them to within six games of the Yankees, but both Boston and Tampa Bay lost.