by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Oakland A’s starter Rich Hill delivers at the New York Yankees in the second inning of Thursday’s game at Yankee Stadium

The Oakland A’s did something Thursday night that hasn’t happened since 2006. They swept a three-game series from the Yankees in New York. Lefty Rich Hill had a very impressive performance as he won his second game of the year. Hill went six innings and allowed just three hits and two runs and had ten strikeouts. Only one of the runs allowed by Hill was earned. The Yankees Luis Severino also pitched well. Severino also went six innings giving up seven hits and two runs. The big difference in the game was the Oakland offense. The A’s hit four home runs in the contest. Three were solo jobs, and the big blast was a two-run homer by Chris Coghlan that iced the game for the A’s. Khris Davis, Coco Crisp and Mark Canha hit solo homers. The other big difference was the bullpen. TheYankee bullpen allowed five runs in the last three innings of the game. The Yanks were able to break through for one run, but the A’s relievers continue to shut opponents down.

The Yankees scored the first run of the game for the third time in the three-game series. A’s starter Rich Hall walked Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez to start the bottom of the second. Hill got Chase Headley to ground out to Jed Lowrie for the first out. Lowrie was positioned just to the left of second base and able to keep Headley’s ball from going into center field. Lowrie threw to first for the out, but he could have possibly nailed A-Rod at second, and Semien could have completed the double play. However, He was reacting and didn’t see that Rodriguez would have been out easily. The run scored when Aaron Hicks singled softly to center driving in Teixeira for the score.

The A’s scored in the top of the fourth to tie the game at one. The tie didn’t last long as the Yankees scored an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth.With one out, Rich Hill walked Alex Rodriguez. Hill attempted to pick A-Rod off, but his throw went wild past first. Since A-Rod was on the move, he received credit for a stolen base, and Hill was charged with an error allowing A-Rod to advance to third. Aaron Hicks singled softly to center to drive in Rodriguez and give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.

In the top of the fifth, Mark Canha took Severino deep for his second home run of the year. The blast came on a 0-2 count with two out. The A’s scored twice in the top of the seventh. Lefty Chasen Shreve took over for Severino in the seventh. His first two pitches were hit out of the park. Khris Davis hit the first pitch he saw from Shreve into the left-center field bleachers. Coco Crisp hit the next pitch into the left-field seats to put the A’s ahead 4-2. The Yankees scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to make it a one-run game. Fernando Rodriguez gave up the run. Bob Melvin brought in John Axford to get the final out of the inning. Axford retired the ever dangerous Carlos Beltran for the third out.

The A’s put two more runs on the board in the eighth. Chris Coghlan homered with a man on to make it 6-3 and they added the seventh run in the ninth. Liam Hendricks and Ryan Madson worked the ninth. Madson recorded his sixth save of the year. The A’s win their fifth in a row 7-3.

Game Notes- With the win, the A’s are now 9-7 for the season and have won five straight. They have also won all six games they have played on the road so far this year. The Yankees fall to 5-9 and are 1-8 in their last nine games.

After the game, Chris Coghlan that the A’s were motivated by comments made by the Yankee announcers who said: ” the A’s are just above a Triple-A team and that they didn’t know our names.” It looks like they know the players names now.

The A’s travel to Toronto to face the best offensive unit in the American League. Sonny Gray will pitch on Friday, Chris Bassitt on Saturday, and Eric Surkamp on Sunday. Toronto will counter with Aaron Sanchez, J.A.Happ, and Marcus Stroman.

Attendance was 33,818.