The New York Yankees were knocking on the door of the base knock all night which led to a five run win to open a three game series against the Oakland A’s at Yankee Stadium on Mon May 8, 2023 (@Yankees photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The New York Yankees won the first game of three-game series with the Oakland A’s 7-2. In the first four innings of the game, the A’s starter JP Sears allowed the Yanks just one hit. Things went south in the fifth. The Yankees’ right-fielder Oswaldo Cabrera homered with a man on board to give the Yanks a 2-0.

The A’s tied the score in the next inning. Sears gave up a solo home run to Glyber Torres and a two-run blast to D J LeMahieu. New York added two more in the seventh when Aaron Hicks hit a two-run dinger to put the game out of reach.

The Yankees put two runs on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Center fielder Harrison Bader led off the frame when he tripled into the gap in left-centerfield. Sears retired Isiah Kiner-Filefa for the first out. The next hitter, Oswaldo Cabrera, homered over the 318-foot marker in left field. New York leads 2-0 after five complete.

The A’s tied the game in the top of the sixth. Brent Rooker singled to start the rally. Yankees’ starter Nestor Cortes walked Jesus Aguilar to put men on at first and second. JJ Bleday singled to right to load the bases. The Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone brought in Ron Marinaccio to pitch.

A’s skipper Mark Kotsay sent up Tony Kemp to pinch-hit for Jordan Diaz. Kemp reached on an infield single to drive in Rooker with the A’s first run. Sheal Langeliers struck out. Kotsay sent up left-handed hitter Jace Peterson to pinch-hit for Kevin Smith. Marinaccio walked Peterson to force in the A’s second run. Nick Allen hit into a double play to end the inning. The score is tied 2-2 midway through the sixth.

The Yankees sent JP Sears to the showers in the sixth. Sears struck out Anthony Volpe for the first out. Sears served up a gopher ball to Glyber Torres. The Yanks led 3-2. The next hitter Anthony Rizzo singled. DJ LeMahieu blasted his fifth home run of the year to give the Yanks a 5-2 advantage after six innings.

The Yankees continued the homer parade in the seventh. With one out, catcher Jose Trevino singled. The next hitter, the much-maligned Aaron Hicks, who had been hearing from the boo birds after his first two at-bats in the game, homered. The booing stopped as all Hicks heard was the cheering from the crowd when he crossed the plate with the Yanks’ seventh run. The Yanks lead 7-2.

The Yankees bullpen kept the A’s scoreless after the fifth inning to secure the win. The Yankees beat the A’s 7-2 to take game one of the three-game series.

Game Notes- With the loss, the A’s are now 8-28. The Yankees improved to 19-17.

The line score for Oakland was two runs, ten hits, and no errors. New York’s line was seven runs, nine hits, and no errors. Four of the nine Yankee hits were home runs. Sears was the losing pitcher. He is now 0-3 for 2023. Ron Marinaccio was the winning pitcher.

Sears’ line was five and 1/3rd innings pitched. He allowed five runs and six hits. Three of the hits were homers.
The A’s play game two of the series Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. Drew Rucinski (0-2 ERA 7.71) will go for Oakland, and the Yankees will send Clark Schmidt (0-3 ERA 5.83) to the mound to face the A’s. The game will start at 4:05 pm.

The time of the game was 2:34. 33,011 fans were on hand to watch the Yankees beat the A’s.