By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND — Mathematicians and Major League managers would have reached the same, logical conclusion on Tuesday night: two hits aren’t enough to qualify a team for critical, postseason analysis.

In a tightly contested ballgame between the two American League teams on a collision course to meet October 3 in a win-or-go-home, wild card scenario, the Yankees and A’s had everyone’s attention, but the A’s managed just two hits, and that ended the playoff preview assessment before it could get started.

“We just didn’t do enough offensively tonight,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “No matter what we give up, even if it’s two runs, when you get two hits, it’s going to be a tough time winning.”

Make no mistake: in their 19th game in 19 days, the A’s came to play, and their patchwork approach to pitching to the Yankees was executed brilliantly for six innings. Reliever Liam Hendricks started, and Daniel Mengden followed by allowing just one of the first 14 batters he faced to reach, before a base hit by Gleyber Torres on the last of his 51 pitches. Ryan Buchter picked Torres off first just three pitches into his appearance, and that kept the Bombers quiet for six innings.

Buchter allowed a Brett Gardner base hit leading off the seventh, and that was Melvin’s signal to turn to his top guys, starting with Jeurys Familia. But the former Mets’ closer allowed Giancarlo Stanton a base hit, and then walked Andrew McCutchen to load the bases. Then Aaron Hicks walked to force in a run and tie the game.

Familia escaped further damage by striking out the next two batters before Fernando Rodney induced Neil Walker into a foul pop that ended the inning.

With one front line reliever off his game, the A’s couldn’t afford two, and that’s what they suffered when Rodney elevated a pitch to Luke Voit leading off the eighth. That pitch was quickly deposited in the left field corner pocket for a 2-1 Yankees lead, courtesy of their lineup’s hottest hitter.

Voit’s shot was his seventh homer in 12 games dating back to August 24. The hot hitter quickly transformed into a galvanizing cheerleader greeting his teammates in the dugout.

“The whole Sammy Sosa hop, I don’t… it just happens,” Voit said. “I don’t know, I play with excitement, and like some of you guys say, it just feeds the team, ignites the team and, you know, we end up scoring three more runs. It’s huge and it’s like a playoff game and it’s fun to have emotions for those games.”