By Derek McAdam
May 11, 2023
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The New York Yankees completed the sweep of the Oakland A’s yesterday, winning by a score of 11-3 and improving to 21-17 on the season.
Quick Stats: Jhony Brito: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Aaron Judge: 3-for-4, 2 R
Anthony Volpe: 1-for-5, First career grand slam
The sweep against the A’s was the first sweep of the season for the Yankees.
Big Story: The Yankees took the series with Tuesday night's win, but the team was looking for the sweep. It did not take long for the team to get going, as they scored four runs in the 1st inning on a Gleyber Torres sacrifice fly and a three-run home run by Harrison Bader. In the 2nd, Carlos Perez and Jace Peterson of the A's hit back-to-back solo home runs to cut the Yankee lead to 4-2.
However, the Yankees would extend their lead in the 5th, beginning with an RBI single from Anthony Rizzo to score Judge. DJ LeMahieu would follow up with a two-run home run to give the Yankees a 7-2 lead. With the bases loaded in the same inning, Volpe hit his fourth home run of the season and his first career grand slam to give the Yankees a commanding 11-2 lead.
Deivi Garcia would come in and get the nine-out save for the Yankees, allowing a solo home run to JJ Bleday in the 7th. Yesterday’s win was the Yankees’ fourth in their last five games, and more importantly, the offense was able to come alive for a little while, even though it was against the worst pitching staff in the league.
Player of the Game: Judge had a three-hit day and has had several productive at-bats since making his return from the IL on Tuesday.
Notable Performances: Rizzo and Bader both continue to hit well for the Yankees, as Rizzo added another multi-hit game to his season. After Wednesday’s performance, Rizzo’s average is back above .300.
Better to Forget: Although it was not his worst performance this season, Brito seems to be the odd man out in the rotation. Clarke Schmidt has had a couple of good starts in a row, and while Nestor Cortes has struggled lately, he will remain in the rotation. Luis Severino is set to make his return relatively soon, and Brito does not have much time left to show the Yankees that he can be a solid starter.
My Take: As a Yankee fan, it does not matter who the team was playing over the past three days. They needed to get wins, and that’s exactly what they did. They needed to score runs after a several week stretch of horrific offense, which is exactly what they did. Yes, they played the A’s, but isn’t this what they were supposed to do against the worst team in all of baseball? Yes, it was, and they did just that.
The Yankees’ loss on Sunday after holding a 6-0 lead was frustrating in every possible way. Gerrit Cole blew the lead for the Yankees, but they also were unable to score in the 10th with a ghost-runner on 2nd base. Sunday’s win would have been a huge momentum swing for the Yankees.
Luckily, they were able to play the A’s for three games before they face Tampa for another four at Yankee Stadium. As I said, it doesn’t matter that the Yankees played the worst team in baseball… they won the games, which is what matters more than anything. While the competition will be much tougher against the Rays, the team finally has some confidence that they can score some runs.
Hopefully, these three games are not just an outlier, and the Yankees will actually be able to score a few runs against the Rays. Let’s see what happens this weekend.
What’s Next?: The Yankees will host the Rays for a four-game series beginning tonight. Drew Rasmussen is scheduled to start for the Rays, while Domingo German is set to go for the Yankees. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EST.
