The lead story: The Yankees scuffled again in Oakland. Their offense was impotent for a second straight day, falling to the Athletics, 4-1, on Sunday to split the four-game series. They were outscored 9-6 over the last three games after a 13-4 romp to open the series.
The sidebars: The Mets fell short of a four-game sweep of the Rockies at home, dropping a 1-0 getaway game. Colorado’s Germán Márquez outdueled Max Scherzer in the nip-and-tuck loss. And the Jets rallied for a 31-27 win over the Giants in a relatively uneventful Snoopy Bowl to close out the preseason.
The standings: The Yankees (78-50) have a 7.5-game lead on the Rays for first place in the AL East. The loss column edge is seven games. They also have a 10-game lead on the Guardians for the No. 2 seed in the AL (nine in the loss column). They are 3.5 games back of the Astros for home field advantage in the AL (three in the loss column).
The Mets (82-47) have a three-game lead on the Braves atop the NL East (standings and loss column). Their lead on the Cardinals for the No. 2 seed in the NL is 6.5 games (seven in the loss column). And they trail the Dodgers for the NL’s top seed by 7.5 games (seven in the loss column).
The schedule: The Mets are off. The Yankees are in Anaheim against the Angels. First pitch is set for 9:38 p.m. ET. The preseason schedule is over for the Giants and Jets; they will open the regular season on Sept. 11.
More on ESNY:
• Yankees-Athletics takeaways: 2 steps forward, then bats fall flat
• 3 thoughts as Giants, Jets starters finish out their 2022 preseason
• 4 EuroBasket 2022 thoughts: Evan Fournier plays through rumors
• Here’s a wild New York sports talk radio what-if to consider
• Brian Cashman’s latest Aaron Judge-Yankees comments are interesting
James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com
