by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Oakland A’s pitcher Sean Doolittle gets the save and is congratulated by A’s catcher Stephen Vogt in the A’s second win in the three game series in Yankee Stadium Wednesday night

The A’s won their fourth game in a row Wednesday night as they beat the Yankees 5-2. Kendall Graveman pitched his best game of the year. Graveman went six and a third innings allowing just one run and three hits. He struck out a career-high eight men and had the Yankee hitters befuddled all night long. Nathan Eovaldi started for New York and took the loss. Eovaldi allowed just one hit in the first three innings of the game but lost it in the fourth. The A’s appear to be road warriors this year. They have won all five games they have played away from the Coliseum. The A’s are now 8-7 for 2016 and will be going for the sweep Thursday night.

The Yankees scored the first run of the game for the second night in a row. With one out in the second inning, Yankee shortstop, Didi Gregorius, hit a home run that went down the right field line and barely cleared the wall over the 314-foot marker.

The Yankee starter, Nathan Eovaldi allowed just one hit in the first three innings of work. The A’s however, scored three times on five hits in the fourth inning. Billy  Burns, leading off the inning, doubled to left centerfield.  Chris Coghlan followed with a double to drive in Burns. Josh Reddick singled to short left field. The throw from Aaron Hicks appeared to nail Coghlan at the plate. However, Brian McCann couldn’t handle the throw cleanly, and Coghlan scored. Reddick took second on the play. Reddick advanced to third on a Danny Valencia single. Stephen Vogt flew out, and that allowed Reddick to tag up and score the A’s third run of the inning.The A’s loaded the bases with one out but the inning ended when Yonder Alonso flew out to left, and Danny Valencia was throw out at home trying to score.

The Yankees threatened in the bottom of the seventh but failed to score. With one out. Graveman walked Chase Headley. Bob Melvin decided to take Graveman out of the game and replaced him with Marc Rzepczynski. Didi Gregorius followed with a single that sent Headley to third and Gregorius advanced to second when A’s center fielder, Billy Burns, committed an error when he bobbled the ball. The next hitter, Aaron Hicks, hit a ground ball to Coghlan at third. Coughlan tagged Gregorius and then threw to first to get Hicks and complete the double play to end the inning.  The Yankees requested a review of the play, and the umpires upheld the call as there was not conclusive proof that Coghlan missed the tag.

The A’s scored two more runs in the top of the eighth. Billy Butler and Stephen Vogt singled to start the inning. Jed Lowrie walked to load the bases with no out. Khris Davis singled sharply past the drawn-in infield to drive in Butler and Vogt. For Davis, it was his second hit of the game. The Yankees scored a run in the bottom of the eighth when Carlos Beltran put a Ryan Dull pitch into the second deck in right field. For Beltran, it was his fourth home run of the year and the 396th of his career. Ryan Dull had allowed no hits and no runs so far this year until Beltran hit the home run. The A’s lead 5-2 heading into the ninth. Bob Melvin brought in his closer, Sean Doolittle, to pitch the bottom the ninth. Doolittle gave up a single to Brian McCann to start the inning but then retired Alex Rodriguez, Chase Headley and Didi Gregorius to p[ick up his second save of the year and Kendall Graveman recorded his first win of the year and his first win since July 4th, 2015. The A’s win 5-2.

Game Notes-There were some strange doings in the contest. In the second inning, Jacoby Ellsbury was awarded first base when A’s catcher Stephen Vogt was called for catcher interference. Ellsbury appeared to hit a foul, but the umpire ruled that Vogt’s hand or glove touched Ellsbury’s bat and sent him to first. Later in the game, A’s third baseman, Danny Valencia appeared to hurt his hamstring attempting to score. Chris Coghlan moved over to third from second and Jed Lowrie, who was the designated hitter, went to second. That meant that the pitcher had to hit, and Graveman went to the plate as he had to bat fourth. He did not get a hit, but it was strange to see a pitcher in the game as a hitter.

Billy Burns led the A’s with two singles and a double. Khris Davis, who has had a tough start to the season, had two hits in the game and drove in two.

The A’s announced that Eric Sogard underwent successful knee surgery Wednesday and will miss significant time this season. Sogard hopes to return later this summer.

The A’s and Yankees conclude the three-game series Thursday night. Lefty Rich Hill will pitch for Oakland, and the Yankees will counter with Luis Severino.

Time of game was two hours and fifty-seven minutes. 37,386 people watched the A’s beat the Yankees.