Yankees lose second straight to Oakland

The New York Yankees lost to the Oakland Athletics by the score of 6-4 on Wednesday night. CC Sabathia made the start and got a no decision, he pitched well but may have been left in the game one batter too long. He had a lead and gave up a game tying double to a batter who was already 2-2 off of him. The bullpen other then Mariano Rivera had a rough night tonight. Rafael Soriano took the loss giving up a three run homerun, he hasn’t pitched in six days so maybe he was rusty, but he shouldn’t give up a bomb to Coco Crisp. The offense was ok but they aren’t hitting on all cylinders right now.
Sabathia pitched 7 1/3 innings giving up seven hits and three runs. He walked one and struck out seven. Dave Robertson pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a walk, Rivera pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts and Soriano pitched an inning giving up three hits and three runs with a strikeout. Soriano saw his record drop to 2-2 on the season.

Brett Gardner had a hit, Derek Jeter had two hits and an RBI and Curtis Granderson had a walk. Mark Teixeira had a hit and an RBI, Robinson Cano had a hit and Nick Swisher had two hits, two RBI and a walk. Jorge Posada had a hit, Eduardo Nunez had two hits and Francisco Cervelli had a hit. Cano and Nunez each had a double. Swisher hit two homeruns and Teixeira had one. The Yankees were 2-10 with runners in scoring position and they left nine men on base. Gardner had a stolen base and Granderson had an outfield assist.

In the first inning Crisp hit a solo homerun to give the Athletics a 1-0 lead. In the third inning Jeter had an RBI single to tie the game at one. In the sixth Swisher hit a solo homerun to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. The Athletics tied the game up in the eighth and took the lead. Scott Sizemore hit an RBI double and Crisp had an RBI single to give them a 3-2 lead. The Yankees tied the game in the eighth on a solo homerun by Teixeira. The Athletics took the lead for good in the tenth inning on a three run homerun by Crisp. The Yankees got a run closer in the tenth on a Swisher solo homerun. The final score was 6-4 Athletics.

It was the second night in a row where the Yankees fought back but lost the game anyway. This one stings extra hard because of Crisp being the hero for the Athletics, he is a good veteran player but not known for homeruns and he hit two with five RBI. The Yankees have lost the first two games of this quick three game set. The Yankees will be heading out on the road for five games in Baltimore. There is a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday because of an earlier rain out. There is a bad forecast for a hurricane coming up the coast so who knows how the weather will affect this series on Saturday and Sunday. The Yankees are now one game behind the Red Sox. They have the same amount of losses but have two fewer wins. Jeter moved ahead of Rickey Henderson for 21st place on the all-time hits list. The Yankees will try and salvage the final game of the series on Thursday afternoon. They expect to have Alex Rodriguez back in the lineup for the matinee game.