by Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND– It was a beautiful sun-drenched afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum as the Oakland A’s played host to the New York Yankees. The two teams were playing in front of 40,546 fans, and they treated them to quite an afternoon of baseball. The A’s, the hottest team in baseball since June 16th and owners of the fourth-best record in baseball had to deal with the Yankees who own the second-best record. Yankee slugger Aaron Judge, who had not played since July 26th when he suffered a broken wrist, took his first swings off a tee on Monday and should be back soon. Yankee shortstop, Didi Gregorius, who is also on the DL, may be back in the lineup later this week. These two players make the Yankees, as a team, a lot more dangerous. The Yankees, even without them, are loaded with players that have a lot of power. The A’s were the better team on Labor Day as they beat the Yankees 6-3 and moved to within 3 1/2 games of the lead for the first Wild Card spot in the AL. The A’s remain 2 1/2 games behind the Houston Astros for first place in the AL West.

Monday’s pitching matchup featured the A’s big righty, Trevor Cahill, going up the even bigger lefty CC Sabathia. Cahill, who had never beaten the Yankees in his career and who pitches much better in Oakland than on the road, gave the A’s five innings of work. He allowed four hits and three runs. One of the runs was unearned. Sabathia who was 11-11 in his career against Oakland did not have it Monday afternoon. Sabathia’s day ended in the fourth inning. His pitching line was 3 and 1/3rd inning, and he allowed seven hits, five runs, four of which were earned. Sabathia took the loss and is now 7-6 for the year.

The Yankees put an unearned run on the board in the top of the first. Andrew McCutchen, who arrived in New York via a trade with the San Francisco Giants led off with a single. McCutchen stole second, and when Jonathan’s Lucroy’s throw sailed into centerfield, McCutchen advanced to third. Cahill retired Giancarlo Stanton on a popup to second baseman Jed Lowrie. McCutchen scored on Aaron Hick’s sacrifice fly. Cahill struck out Miguel Andu]jar to end the inning.  The Yanks lead 1-0 in the middle of the first. The lead didn’t last long as the A’s plated three runs. After Sabathia retired Marcus Semien for the first out, the A’s put together four straight singles and a throwing error by Yankee third baseman Miguel Andujar to end the first with the lead 3-1. Two of the A’s runs were earned, and the other was unearned.

The Yankees tied the game in the top of the second. Yankees’ catcher Gary Sanchez started the inning with a walk. With one out, rookie first baseman Luke Voit blasted his sixth of the year. The A’s undid the tie in their half of the second. Sabathia walked Marcus Semien who was leading off for Oakland. A’s third baseman Matt Chapman doubled to drive in Semien with the A’s fourth run of the game. Chapman was out at third as he tried to stretch the double into a triple.

The A’s tallied their fifth run of the day in the bottom of the fourth.  Semien led off the inning with a double. With one out, Jed Lowrie singled to drive in Semien. For Lowrie, it was his 86th ribbie of the season. The A’s lead 5-3 after four.

The A’s center fielder Mark Canha tacked on another run for Oakland when he blasted a towering fly into the left-field seats for his sixteenth big fly of the year to give the A’s a 3-run cushion  6-3 after five innings of play.

The A’s bullpen of Lou Trivino, Yusmeiro Petit, Ryan Buchter, Jeurys Familia, and Blake Treinen did not allow the Yankees a hit after the fifth inning. It did get a little dicey in the seventh when Gary Sanchez reached first after striking out. Jonathan Lucroy allowed Petit’s pitch to get by him. The ball went to the backstop, and by the time Lucroy fielded the ball, Sanchez was on first safely. Petit then walked Glyber Torres to put men on at first and second with no out. Petit reached back and struck out Voit and pinch-hitter Neil Walker. Brett Gardner flew out to left for the final out of the seventh. Jeurys Familia pitched the eighth inning, and he retired the first two Yankees he faced. It started to go downhill as he suddenly couldn’t find the strike zone. He walked Aaron Hicks and Miguel Andujar to give the Yankees a glimmer of hope. The next hitter was former NL MVP, Andrew McCutchen. McCutchen, who singled in the first, hit a sharp ground ball to Marcus Semien. Semien’s throw to first was on target, and the side was retired. Blake Treinen worked the ninth, and he retired the Yanks in order to earn his 36th save of the season.

Game Notes- The A’s, with the win, improved to 83-56 and are now 3 1/2 games behind the Yanks in the race for the top Wild Card spot. If the playoffs were to begin now, the A’s would have to travel to New York for the one-game playoff. If the A’s finish first, the playoff would be played in Oakland. The A’s remain 2 1/2 games behind the Astros for the best record in the AL West. The A’s and Astros have finished the season’s series.

Trevor Cahill received credit for the win and is now 6-3 for the season. Cahill is 5-0 and has an ERA of 1.09 in nine starts at the Coliseum He beat the Yankees for the first time in his career.

Mark Canha matched a career-high with his 16th homer of the season in the bottom of the fifth inning… Canha leads the American League with 13 home runs vs. lefties.  Matt Chapman recorded his 34th double of the season… leads the Majors with 32 extra-base hits since the AllStar Break. Stephen Piscotty added two hits to extend his hitting streak to six games, he is batting .391 (9-for-23) over that span.  Blake Treinen earned his 36th save of the season, which ranks fourth in the majors and tied for ninth in Oakland history…he now has a 0.91 ERA, which is the lowest among Major League relievers. Khris Davis is 2nd in the Majors with 105 RBI this season (J.D. Martinez, 115)… Davis had a career-best 110 RBI last season.

–The Oakland A’s have acquired right-handed pitcher Aaron Brooks from the Milwaukee Brewers for cash considerations, the club announced today.  To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, the A’s designated left-handed pitcher Danny Coulombe for assignment.

Game two of the three-game series will be played Tuesday night at the Oakland Coliseum. The A’s have not announced a starter, and it may be bullpen by committee once again with Liam Hendriks pitching the first inning and Daniel Mengden coming in to pitch in either the second or third innings. Lefty J.A. Happ will go for New York. Game time is at 7:05 pm.