The New York Yankees opened their west coast trip being swept by the Oakland Athletics. The A’s won Thursday by a score of 5-3.
I am so glad I chose the “lost in space” analogy for this west coast trip. The only thing that could possibly top the New York Yankees need to get out of Oakland is an astronaut’s need to be rescued from the hostile environment of a distant planet.
The Yankees fell to the A’s by the score of 5-3, opening their west coast trip on the wrong end of a sweep.
Serenaded by sounds reminiscent of a middle school marching band, Masahiro Tanaka struggled. Thursday marked his first truly bad start since unveiling his new splitter grip. He surrendered five earned runs on eight hits over six innings.
The A’s scored all five of those runs in the first three innings. The starting pitching put the team in a deep hole early every game this series. Even with the strength of the offense, it’s tough to keep coming back from so far behind.
The Yankees didn’t put a run on the board until the fifth inning. Gleyber Torres hit a one-out double before a Mike Tauchman RBI single brought him in.
211 straight games with no shutout! ? #YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/09uoLdFYdB
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) August 23, 2019
Torres would later hit solo shots in the seventh and ninth to cut the Oakland lead to two.
https://twitter.com/KyleNYY/status/1164746736079740929?s=20
https://twitter.com/BarnHasSpoken/status/1164756468307857410?s=20
Torres finished the night 4-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored.
Also of note, Aaron Judge finished 2-3 with a walk and scorched every ball he hit. While his performance didn’t have a big impact on the game, seeing him drive the ball to all fields has fans excited that his slump may be over.
The Yankees now turn their sights to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers are the best team in the National League so the coming series will prove to be an important test for the Bombers.
Savage of the Game - Gleyber Torres
Torres left his mark on the game despite a quiet offensive night for the team overall. He scored all three runs for the Yankees and hit two monster shots for his 30th and 31st homers of the season. Hopefully, that production will carry over into the weekend for a series with playoff implications.
