A Baker’s Dozen: Yankees 13, A’s 8

About Yesterday Afternoon: A Baker’s Dozen Yankees 13- A’s 8

By Tim Kabel

June 1, 2026

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To borrow a line from Les Miserables, “Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise”, Unless you happen to be the Sacramento A’s in the third inning yesterday.

The Yankees had their biggest inning in 21 years which they rode to a 13-8 victory over the Athletics on Sunday. During that inning, the Athletics looked anything but athletic. The Yankees first twelve batters in that inning reached base against Jacob Lopez and Michael Kelly, which was the first time the Yankees accomplished that feat in nearly 77 years. The 13-run total they scored in that third inning was just one run off the franchise record set in 1920 against the Washington Senators. My friend Roger was at that game and lost a nickel in a wager with Calvin Coolidge, who happened to be in town. Roger said that Old Cal talked too much.

Will Warren pitched six innings, allowing only three unearned runs which scored because of an error by Trent Grisham. Warren struck out five and walked three. He improved his record to 7-1. 

During the third inning, eight of the nine Yankees batters, who each batted twice, had at least one hit and one RBI. Austin Wells was the lone exception, of course. He had two walks and two runs scored. The half inning took 43 minutes and the Yankees accumulated 11 hits, 4 walks and 4 stolen bases. They faced 75 pitches.

This was the type of game the Yankees needed to win. As I stated after Friday's game, this is a situation of making hay while the sun is shining. The Yankees needed to take advantage of the opposition on this road trip, namely the Kansas City Royals and the Sacramento A’s. They went 5-1 on the road trip. I know some people get a little sensitive when I or other writers suggest that these are games the Yankees should win, but they are. There is a difference between should and must. If you win the majority of the games you should win, you will reduce the number of games you must win.

Even though the Yankees scored those thirteen runs in the third inning, the bullpen managed to make things interesting. The normally reliable Tim Hill gave up four runs and two home runs in the seventh inning, seeing his ERA balloon to 4.03. Fernando Cruz was also shaky, giving up one run on two hits in the eighth inning. David Bednar allowed a hit and a walk but no runs. Bednar had not pitched in a few days but the concern with Hill and Cruz among others is that their overuse may be catching up to them. It hasn't led to a disaster at this point, but that doesn't mean it won't in the very near future. It is something to keep an eye on.

All in all, it was a very good day, and the Yankees enjoyed their baker's dozen of runs. 

A Few Tidbits: 

·       Amazingly, there were no home runs hit by the Yankees in the game.  That's baseball, Suzyn.

·       Ben Rice had a double and a triple and four RBI in the third inning. He is now batting .306 with 17 home runs and 44 RBI. He is the Yankees team leader in all three of those offensive categories.

·       The Yankees scored ten runs before recording an out in the third inning.

·       The A’s allowed 47 runs on a 1-5 homestand.

·       On May 31st, 2006, Mike Mussina famously yelled “No, stay there!” at Joe Torre when Torre attempted to remove him in the 9th inning of a game against the Tigers with two out. Mussina was able to finish the game which the Yankees won 6-1. It was the 57th and final complete game of Mussina’s career.

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After a day off today, the Yankees will open a three-game series against the Guardians on Tuesday at 7:05 PM at Yankee Stadium. Cam Schlittler, (7-2, 1.50 ERA) will face Joey Cantillo, (4-2, 3.57 ERA).