Game 1: 6/18/21, 7:05 PM (Athletics win 5-3)
Friday night in the Bronx, was a re-opening day as the Yankees welcomed back a full capacity crowd for the 1st time since 2018. A crowd of just over 24,000 fans were ready to witness a 5-3 Yankees loss. New York actually led for a good portion of this game, but the usual dominate bullpen faltered. Starter Jameson Tallion pitched well, he left the game with a 3-2 lead after throwing 4.2 innings, 2 runs, 4 hits, a walk and 5 strikeouts. Yankees fell behind 2-0 in the 3rd, but in the bottom of the inning, Brett Gardner drew a walk and LeMehieu delivered a short porch 2 run homer. In the 5th inning, Rougned Odor launched a solo shot to give the Yanks a 3-2 for the time being. The big blow happened in the 6th, with Wendy Peralta pitching he would proceed to get into a lot of trouble and give up a 3-run homer to Tony Kemp, of all people. That would give the A’s a 5-3 lead that they would never give up. Oakland pitcher and former Yankee prospect James Kapreilian pitched exceptionally, going 5.2 solid innings giving up 3 runs on 3 hits walking 1 and striking out 7. The A’s bullpen was dominate, only allowing 2 baserunners over the final 3.1 innings. The bats were pretty quiet in this one. Wandy Peralta received the loss for New York and James Kapreilian would get the win for Oakland.
Game 2: 6/19/21, 1:05 PM (Yankees win 7-5)
Yankees would bounce back nicely from a tough loss last night. A crowd of 23,985 in attendance saw the Yankee bats make a big comeback. New York would erase a 4-1 deficit after a weird start for Domingo German. German looked very sharp and his curveball was really working but his fastball command wasn’t great. His final line was 4 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts all on the curveball. He wasn’t great as he gave up a lot of baserunners but kept New York within striking distance. Yanks were down 2-0 in the 4th but chipped across a run following a Gio Urshela RBI single. In the 5th, the A’s would tack on 2 more runs making it a 4-1 lead for Oakland while also getting German out of the game. A 3 run deficit felt like a lot more for this Yankee offense as it has struggled most of the season. In the 6th, New York continued to chip away scoring another run on an absolute blast from Gary Sanchez. Gary is the hottest hitter in baseball right now, increasing his batting average from .198 to .237 in a 20 game span. Unbelievable tear he is on which is awesome to see. In the 7th, the bats kept hitting scoring 2 more runs all with 2 outs. Aaron Judge roped a single to score Clint Frazier who doubled. Stanton would drive in the tying run a few moments later with a rocket opposite field single scoring Judge. The 8th inning was more of the same from the Yankee bats as they continued to score. Urshela smacked a solo shot to monument park to take a 5-4 lead. A couple of walks by Gittins and Frazier would give New York 2 on with nobody out. Yanks played some small ball and had Gardner move the runners over with a perfect sac bunt. LeMahieu would drive in both runs with a single making it a 7-4 New York lead. Lock down performance from the bullpen. Nestor Cortes was lights out throwing 3 shutout innings in long relief of Domingo German. Chapman pitched the 9th and got into some trouble giving up a run but nothing more. His final pitch clocked in at 103.6 MPH which is the hardest pitch in the league this season. Manager Aaron Boone was ejected in the 9th arguing balls and strikes. What a huge win. Chad Greene would pick up the win for the Yanks and Jesus Luzardo would get the loss.
Game 3: 6/20/21, 1:05 PM (Yankees win 2-1)
In front of a faithful 27,807 in attendance on Father’s Day, we had a pitchers dual in the Bronx. Yankee starter Jordan Montgomery was excellent over 5.1 innings of 1 run ball. A’s starter Sean Manaea, was also lights out throwing 5.1 innings of 2 run ball and striking out a career high 11. Oakland got on the board in the 1st inning on a 2 out solo shot by Matt Olson. That would be the only run of the game for the A’s as Monty and Yankee bullpen completely shut down a high powered offense. The winning hit came off non other then the hottest hitter in baseball, Gary Sanchez who smoked a 2-run double in the 6th scoring scoring Frazier and Judge. Other then that, this game was extremely boring unless you love low scoring pitching duals. Jonathon Loaisiga would pick up the win for the Yankees and Manaea would pick up the tough loss. Chapman came in the 9th for the save and got into a load of trouble quickly. 1st and 2nd nobody out and the Yanks turned another triple play to end the game, this was the 3rd triple play New York has turned in a span of 28 days. Truly incredible stuff from the defense and pitching in this game. What a series win.
My thoughts:
What a series. We knew it would be a tough and gritty series with a very good ball club. It feels awesome to take 2/3 from a team with the 3rd best record in baseball. It was great to see the bullpen pitch exceptionally and hitters have great at bats against very accurate A’s pitchers. The 7-5 win was probably the best steal of the season so far. All of a sudden, Yanks find themselves hot, winning 5 of the last 6 while also seeing their division rivals lose a lot recently. Yanks sitting 4 games out of 1st with a lot of baseball to be played. Must stay hot!
What’s next?
The Oakland A’s will travel to Arlington, Texas to take on the Texas Rangers in a 4 game set. The New York Yankees will have an off day Monday, before starting a 3 game series with the Kansas City Royals Tuesday night in the Bronx. Boys must stay hot and sweep this series.
Comments