New York Yankees

The New York Yankees completed their first sweep of 2016 on Sunday afternoon against the Oakland Athletics. 

  • New York Yankees: 5 (21-22)
  • Oakland Athletics: 4 (19-26)
  • American League, FINAL, Box Score 
  • Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA
Now out of the cellar of the American League East, the New York Yankees have their focus on reaching the top and as they swept the Oakland Athletics this afternoon, they better believe it could happen.

Michael Pineda finally chipped in with a quality start by going six innings and only allowing three runs while striking out three. Big Mike extended his record against the A’s to 3-0 while earning his first victory since April 6.

He also got some help from his offense led by the red-hot Carlos Beltran who went 2-for-4 with an RBI. During the Yankees’ five-game winning streak, he is hitting .455 with five doubles, a home run, and eight RBI.

New York got on the board in the top of the second inning when catcher Brian McCann drilled one over the wall in right off Jesse Hahn to tie the game up at one apiece. It was McCann’s sixth home run of the season and his first road home run since he went yard at the Rogers Centre on April 12.

One inning later, Jacoby Ellsbury destroyed a pitch off Hahn and when it landed, it was 430-feet away from home plate while the Yankees took a 2-1 lead.

The A’s wouldn’t go down quietly, though. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Stephen Vogt doubled to left to score Jake Smolinski and Billy Burns to turn the tide and give the home team a temporary lead.

Keyword: temporary.

The slumping Mark Teixeira busted a horrifyingly hitless streak (19 at-bats) with an RBI single off John Axford to drive in Brett Gardner to knot the game up at four. Later that inning, Starlin Castro ripped a go-ahead RBI single to score Beltran and give the Yankees a 4-3 lead.

Beltran would then rip an RBI double in the top of the seventh to create some much-needed insurance before Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, and Aroldis Chapman secured the Yankees MLB’s-best 12 wins since May 6.

Injury Report:

According to the YES Network, Luis Severino will make a rehab start in Tampa next Sunday after hitting the disabled list with a triceps strain.

The 22-year old has maintained a 7.46 over 35 innings of work during his sophomore season as his secondary pitches have been ineffective thus far.

What’s Next:

The Yankees will come home to the Bronx to host the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.

Nathan Eovaldi will take the hill after picking up the win in his last outing in six innings of one-run ball to defeat the D-backs. It was Nasty Nate’s third straight win.

Opposing him will be the knuckleballer RA Dickey. Last time out, he gave up five runs on eight hits featuring three homers in his against the Tampa Bay Rays.

First pitch will commence at 7:05 PM ET while coverage will begin on the YES Network at six. Stay tuned as ESNY will provide you with a complete series preview filled with everything you need to know.

NEXT: Oakland Fan Steals Ball From Yankees’ Fan