Oakland Athletics pitcher Cole Irvin, left, interrupts a hug to rub the face of former teammate New York Yankees pitcher Lou Trivino before the game at the Oakland Coliseum on Thu Aug 25, 2022 (AP News photo)

New York (77-48). 13. 20. 0

Oakland (46-80). 4. 8. 0

Thursday, August 25, 2022

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND-After the American League Eastern Division leading New York Yankees, behind the excellent pitching of ex-Athletic Frankie Montás, had finished sweeping their two game series against their interborough rivals, the Mets, the Bronx Bombers arrived in Oakland boasting a record of 76-48.

The Yanks seemed to be emerging from a rough patch, having gone 2-5 in their last home stand before their twin triumphs over the NL East leaders, a turnaround that before indicates that tonight’s visitors have recovered their mojo.

On top of that, slugger Giacarlo Stanton returned from the injured list today. In spite of his .228 batting average, he’d hit 27 home runs in a mere 80 games. Having him in the number three spot of the batting order only made the pinstripers, disguised in their road greys, a more formidable opponent for the lowly A’s, who. stood (perhaps “stumbled” is a better word) at 46-79.

The home team, with a won-lost balance of 46-79 took the field with the second worst winning percentage in major league baseball. The game promised to be a mismatch, and it was. The Yankees massacred the Athletics, 13-4.

The green and gold faced 30 year old right hander Jameson Taillon, a first round draft pick for the Pirates a dozen years ago. He had three previous career starts against the Athletics, in which he went 1-0, 6.75.

One of them was a no decision in the Yanks 5-3 in the Bronx, in which Oakland touched him up for three earned runs on seven hits over five innings. He brought an 11-4, 4.00 record to the mound. This was his 25th start of 2022. His ERA in the first 10was 2.30; it was 5.35 in the next 14.

He went six strong innings, limiting the A’s to one run, earned, on six hits, one of which was a roundtripper. He didn’t issue a single base on balls and logged a pair of strikeouts on the way to earning his 12th win of the year against four losses and improving his earned run average to 3.89.

On the hill for the hosts was fellow righty James Kaprielian, 3-7, 4.29 when he threw his first pitch. The trajectory of Kaprielian’s season had been the opposite of Taillon’s. In May and June, he went 0-5, 5.88 allowing opposing hitters a BA of .251 and an .825 OPS. Those figures had improved to 3-2, 2.59, .217, and .682 in July and four starts so far in August.

Kaprielian’s performance was frankly horrible. He lasted only 2-2/3 disastrous innings, leaving with the bases loaded. He ended up being charged with eight runs, all earned, one of them posthumous. They came on seven hits and six walks, offset by two strikeouts. The A’s starter threw 86 pitches, 48 for strikes, and was charged with his eighth loss against three wins. He saw his ERA rise to 4.88.

The Oakland starter dug himself a hole in the top of the second. After striking out Gleyber Torres, he walked Josh Donaldson, the man whom Matt Chapman made you forget. Then Oswaldo Cabrera pulled a single to left, and Kaprielian loaded the bases with a free pass to José Treviño.

Number nine batter Isiah Kiner drove a liner up the middle for a single that scored Donaldson and Cabrera. Andrew Benintendi also singled to center, loading the bases for Aaron Judge and his load of 48 home runs and 105 RBI. Kaprielian got him to pop out to first, but the now healthy Giancarlo Stanton drove in his 62nd and 63rd runs of the year with a single to left. Two innings into the game, New York led 4-0.

In the third, the Yankees, who had batted around in the second, picked up where they’d left off. Gleyber Torres led off with a walk and scored when Donaldson smacked a double off the left center field wall.

After Cabrera flew out toright, Trevino lashed a grounder to the right of shortstop Nick Allen, who made a great backhanded grab of it and let off a strong throw to first. But the Yankee catcher beat it out, and the threat continued, with runners on first second.

Wildness continued to plague Kaprielian, who walked Kiner-Falefa on a full count to clog the basepaths with the top of New York order coming to bat. Benintendi skyed out to left with a sac fly that brought Donaldson in with the Yanks’ sixth tally. Another walk, this one to Judge, reloaded the bases. Stanton walked on a full count, bringing in Treviño and sending Kaprielian to the showers. Kirby Snead replaced him.

Snead got Anthony Rizzo to hit a grounder to second, but it pulled Vogt out of position to attempt to field it, and there was no one covering first. It went as a single,driving in Kiner-Falefa with the eighth Yankee run. In 2-2/3 innings, every batter in the New York lineup had reached base safely. Torres then mercifully grounded out to end the frame.

A Donaldson single and Treviño double, followed by singles from Kiner-Falefa and Benintendi and a bases loaded RBI out from Judge tacked a couple of additional more runs on the board for the Yanks in their half of the fourth, Kirby’s last inning of the game. Norge Ruíz took over for him in the fifth.

The A’s finally scored with two down in the bottom of the sixth. Promising rookie Shea Langeliers took a changeup waaay deep, 419 feet to left field for his second big league homer and sixth RBI.

The visitors got that back in spades when they came to bat in the seventh, perhaps because Ruíz had been affected by the line drive he took in the leg off Judge’s bat in the previous inning. With one out, back to back singles by Rizzo and Torres were followed by back to back doubles by Donaldson and Cabrera, all hit to either right or right center field, netted the Bombers a trio of talleys. They also ended Ruíz’s up to then successful stint and brought Joel Payamps to the mound. He closed out the frame, which ended with the Yankees sitting on a 13-1 advantage.

Greg Weissert toed the rubber for the New Yorkers in the home seventh. It took. him two pitches to hit Jonah Bride, commit a balk, and hit Skye Bolt.

After getting Allen out on a fly to center, he walked Kemp to load the bases and then walked Machín to force Bride in with Oakland´s second run. That brought Lucas Luetge in to stop the bleeding before it could become a hemorrhage.

He retired Murphy but plunked Brown, the third Oakland hit batsman of the inning, bringing Bolt across the plate with the third Oakland run of the game. An infield single by Langeliers (his third safety of the night) brought in. Kemp, and it was 13-4

But when things go wrong, everything goes wrong. Benintendi led off the Yankee eighth with a single. Aaron Hicks, now playing center field, struck out. Kyle Higashioka pinch hit for Stanton and got an infield single.

Payamps was injured on the play and had to be helped off the field. I’ve not yet received a report of his condition. The A’s called on infielder Sheldon Neuse to quiet the Yanks for the rest of the game, which he did, retiring all five Bronx Bombers he faced. But the game was irretrievably lost.

Baseball, for all its reliance on the statistical analysis of the past to foretell future performance, is an unpredictable game. Tomorrow’s 6:40 confrontation between the two teams, with Gerrit Cole (9-6, 3.41) on the mound for the Yanks and erstwhile Yankee JP Sears (a combined 5-0,1.93 for his work for both teams) opposing him, could turn out to be a nail biter. After all, the Athletics did put up that improbable three run seventh, didn’t they?