Oakland A’s designated hitter Sean Murphy hits into a historic game ending triple play from a pitch thrown by New York Yankee reliever Aroldis Chapman in the top ninth inning. The Yankees took two of three from the A’s in the series at Yankee Stadium in New York on Sun Jun 20, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jessica Kwong

NEW YORK–The Oakland A’s wasted starting pitcher Sean Manea’s career-high 11 strikeouts in a 2-1 loss on Father’s Day to the New York Yankees who delivered a game-ending triple play.

Matt Olson hit a home run on a fly ball to center field in the first inning at Yankee Stadium on Sunday afternoon, putting the A’s up 1-0 and off to what appeared to be a good start.

But the sixth inning turned out to be devastating for the A’s. Gary Sanchez ruined Manea’s gem with a two-run double on a sharp line drive to center fielder Ramon Laureano, allowing Clint Frazier and Aaron Judge to score and putting the Yankees up 2-1. The A’s challenged the tag play but the call on the field was upheld.

In the ninth inning, the Yankees closing pitcher Aroldis Chapman allowed back-to-back walks and was not able to find the strike zone. The lefty seemed to be examining his pitching hand and a trainer looked at it, but he stayed in. New York bailed Chapman out and turned a triple play on Sean Murphy’s ground ball to finish Oakland off.

“There couldn’t have been a more – routine’s not the word, but triple play set-up,” Olson said of the triple play. “Shitty luck, tough way to lose.”

Manea threw only fastballs and changeups. He dominated the Yankees for most of his 5 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on three hits and two walks. His sinker averaged two miles per hour faster than average and generated 17 swings and misses.

Attendance at Yankee Stadium was 27,807, several thousand more than Saturday and Friday, when it accommodated fans in full capacity for the first time since the pandemic.

With losses on Sunday and Saturday, the A’s are 44-29 and still hold the top spot in the AL West.

The A’s continue their 10-game road trip with the first in a four-game series against the Texas Rangers on Monday. First pitch is at 5:05 p.m.