Despite another solid start by Jhony Brito, the Yankees offense could only muster one run in their 2-1 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night.
Takeaways
-Brito, coming off a very strong outing against the Mariners, had a great start against Oakland. He got the first six outs very easily, but in the third he started to get roughed up a little bit. Tyler Wade, the former Yankee, hit a one-out triple before scoring on a Esteury Ruiz single in the next at-bat.
A Seth Brown solo shot in the fourth put Oakland up 2-0 and was all the damage Brito would give up, as he pitched his second solid start in a row. The 25-year-old went 5.2 innings while giving up four hits, two walks, two runs and striking out two.
- Josh Donaldson, who made his first start since Aaron Boone gave him the weekend off against the Rangers, hit a homer in his second at-bat in the fifth inning to give the Yanks their lone run of the night. Of Donaldson's nine hits this season, seven have been homers. Donaldson finished 1-for-4.
- The Yankees would have trouble getting to starter Paul Blackburn and the Oakland bullpen. Their best opportunity came in the eighth inning. Harrison Bader narrowly missed a two-run blast -- the ball hit the end of the bat -- and Giancarlo Stanton came up with men on first and second and two outs. After getting ahead 3-0, the slugger grounded out on a 3-2 pitch to end the threat.
Stanton finished 0-for-4 and is 2-for-24 in his last seven games with 11 strikeouts.
- In the ninth, Gleyber Torres pinch-hit for Jake Bauers and led off with a single. Donaldson struck out looking and Billy McKinney lined out to center field before Anthony Volpe hit an infield single. Kyle Higashioka struck out swinging to end another threat as the Yankees fell, 2-1. The team was 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday night.
- Volpe seems to have figured out his swing after that chicken parm meeting with catching prospect Austin Wells. He went 3-for-4 on Tuesday and is now 7-for-18 with four walks in his last seven games. He's also now hitting .203, the first time he's been over .200 since May 26.
Volpe was caught stealing late in the game, snapping his 15-for-15 streak to start his career. Volpe seemingly beat the throw but the base was blocked by Tony Kemp’s knee. Still the Yankee rookie felt he got his hand on the bag. The Yanks would challenge, but they would lose it, which did not sit right with Boone.
- The Yankees bullpen continued their dominance this season. Nick Ramirez got one out while Tommy Kahnle struck out two in one inning of work. Wandy Peralta pitched a clean eighth. Combined, the bullpen gave Boone and the Yanks 2.1 innings of one-hit ball.
