An eighth inning RBI single by the New York Yankees Aaron Judge holds up as the Yanks edge the Oakland A’s at the Oakland Ring Central Coliseum on Thu Aug 26, 2021 (AP News photo)
New York 7 – 9 – 0
Oakland 6 – 7 – 1
By Lewis Rubman
Thursday August 26, 2021
OAKLAND–George Bowering, the first Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate, tells the story of having gone to a Yankees-Red Sox game at Fenway with the Shakespearian scholar Edward Pechter. Whenever the Yankees scored, Pechter jumped to his feet and cheeered. When the Bosox crossed the plate, the other 30,000 fans in attendance jumped to their feet and cheered.
If Pechter had been at tonight’s contest at the Coliseum between the struggling Athletics and the surging New Yorkers, he would have felt less isolated. Yankee fans, identifiable by their pinstripes and loud cheering (and booing), comprised a signficant portion of the significantly less 8,147 paying spectators who saw the Yanks stave off a valient Oakland comeback attempt and defeat the A’s, 7-6 .
One time Yankee farm hand James Kaprielian (7-4, 3.25 at game time) and Jameson Taillon (8-4, 3.94), the second overall pick in the 2010 first year player draft, each threw a perfect first inning before things livened up in the top of the second.
After Karielian caught Joey Gallo looking at a called third strike for Kaprielian’s fourth strike out against as many batters, Yankee skipper Aaron Boone vociferously made his displeasure known to home plate umpire Todd Tichenor, who, in turn, made his displeasure known by giving Boone the heave-ho. Kaprielian retired two of the next four Yankee batsman, striking out one of them, Gary Sánchez. The other two, however, hit solo home runs.
The first was Giancarlo Stanton´s 23th of the season, a 436 foot blast to straight away center field on a full count four seamer. The second came off the bat of Brett Gardner, his 25th. It went over the fence in right.
The vistors added on in the third with a lead off double to right by Andrew Velázquez followed by Anthony Rizzo’s one out double to left, on which Harrison amost made a marvelous catch at the wall, a walk to Aaron Judge, and Joey Gallo’s three run dinger into the right field seats. It was his 30th of the year and fifth as a Yankee. When the dust had settle at the end of the third, the A’s were on the short end of a 6-0 shellalcking. I guess Boone’s ejection was the key play of the evening.
But all was not lost. Leading off the home third, Matt Chapman swung at a 3-2, 95 mph fastball that left his bat at 111.2 mph and ended up in the left field reserve seats. Sean Murphy then drove another 95 mph offering over the center field wall. Those were their home runs number 20 and 15, respectively.
Matt Olson led off Oakland´s fourth with a double to left. With one down, Harrison sent a line drive just over the glove of a leaping Gio Urshela at third, and Mitch Moreland walked to load the bases. Chapman, too, drew a walk, driving in his second run in as many innings and leaving the bases full of Oaklanders. Murphy fanned for the second out, bringing Andrus to the plate. He fell behind on the count, 0-2, before lining a single up the middle and bringing the Athletics to within a run of the Bombers, who now led, 6-5.
That liner drove Taillon out of the box, replaced by Albert Abreu with Canha coming up. During Canha’s at bat, Andrus stole second. Canha filled the void at first by walking, which refilled the bases. But Marte forced him out, unassisted, on a grounder to LeMahieu.
Taillon’s line was five runs, all earned, in a mere 3-2/3 frames, on four hits, two of them for the distance, and three walks. He threw 78 pitches, 47 strikes, and struck out four A’s. His ERA jumped to 4.18.
Abreu yielded the tying run in the fifth, on a two out no doubter 404 foot four bagger to left field by Harrison, his eighth of the year and second for the green and gold.
99 pitches (62 strikes) in five innings was enough for Kaprielian. In his gutsy performance he weathered a storm of six runs, all earned, on as many hits, half of which were four baggers, and a walk. He struck out eight, and, even though Yusmeiro Petit relieved him in the top of the sixth and Andrew Chafin followed Petit in the seventh and Romo in the eighth, saved more bullpen arms than could have been anticipated after the balls started leaving the park in the second.
When, in the sixth, Chapman led off for Oakland with a single up the middle, Clay Holmes was on the mound for New York. But the Yankee reliever struck out Murphy, Andrus, and Canha in order, to end that glimmer of hope. Jonathan Loásiga took over for Holmes in the home seventh.
Judge greeted Romo in the eighth with a slicing drive that landed just fair inside the right field line for a double, bringing up the dangerous Joey Gallo with the potential leading run in scoring position and no outs. Romo’s full count walk to Gallo wasn’t such a bad outcome to that confrontation.
Stanton skied out to center before Romo issued a four pitch pass to Sánchez that clogged the basepaths with one away. Gardner worked a 3-1 count, but Romo got him to pop an infield fly to second for out number two. The A’s reliever came through, getting Urshela to force Sánchez at second, Chapman to Lowrie. The curse of the lead off double strikes again!
The fireballing Loásiga held the A’s scoreless for two frames, so the game stilll was tied at six when Lou Trivino, who’d been going through a rough patch recently, entered the fray in the top of the ninth. He retired the first two batters he faced but yielded a four pitch walk to Rizzo that brought the ever dangerous Aaron Judge to the plate. Tyler Wade, runnng for Rizzo, broke for second, and Murphy’s throw flew into center field as Wade continued on to third. He scored on Judge’s single to right. Trivino was through, and Jake Diekman came in to put out the fire. To do that, he’d have to deal with Gallo.
Or would he? Judge broke for second. He beat Murphy’s throw, but the replay review showed that his foot came off the bag while Andrus’s glove still was touching his uniform. The call was reversed, and the A’s would need only one run to tie the game when they faced Aroldis Chapman in the ninth.
That’s easier said than done. After all Chapman came in with 299 career saves. Andrus flew out to center, and Canha fanned. But Marte singled to deep short, and a flicker of hope remained. It grew, just a bit, when Marte stole second. But Olson bounced out, 4-3.
The win went to Loásiga, whose two innings of hitless hurling stalled the Athletics’ comeback. He’s now 9-4, 2.23. Chapman became the 31st pitcher to reach the 300 save plateau. It was his 24th save of 2021.
Trivino took the loss. He’s now 5-7, 2.55. The possiblity of Romo becoming the new closer has been looking more inviting every day.
The teams will play the second of this four game series, tomorrow, Friday, night. The crowd will be larger; fireworks trump baseball in the attendance game. The starters will be Gerrit Cole (12-6, 2.92) and Sean Manaea (8-8, 3.77). Game time will be 6:40.
