A’s top Yankees, inch closer in wild-card race
OAKLAND — It’s not often you see an entire team come out of the dugout and await a middle reliever for a hero’s welcome, but that was the scene at the Coliseum when Ryan Buchter walked back to the A’s dugout after retiring Brett Gardner to end a threat the seventh. And when Jeurys Familia struck out Gary Sanchez to end a threat in the eighth. That’s all you need to know about the type of atmosphere surrounding this series.
The A’s always seem to amp up their play when the Yankees come to town, but there’s something extra about this September matchup. Playing exactly one month before the Oct. 3 American League wild-card game, which could feature both clubs fighting for a spot in the ALDS, the A’s came away on top, 6-3, in Monday’s victory over the Yankees, pulling within 3{ games of New York for the top wildcard spot with 23 remaining.
It truly did feel like a glimpse into the playoffs. The Coliseum was packed with 40,546 fans — a large portion of which were sporting the famous Yankee pinstripes. Every pitch mattered — like Buchter’s 3-1 fastball to Gardner that induced a fly out that ended the seventh and stranded two runners to preserve a three-run lead, or Familia’s 2-2 slider he got Sanchez to swing through to get himself out of the jam he created for himself with two runners on in the eighth.
Of course, the star-filled Yankees squad is currently missing Aaron Judge and Didi Gregorius, two talented hitters expected back in their lineup come playoff time. But the A’s made it clear — they’re not going to back down from the Bronx Bombers.
Trevor Cahill’s home dominance continued, but the outing didn’t start out the way most of his do at the Coliseum. The Yankees had the right-hander on the ropes early. After surrendering a game-tying two-run home run to Luke Voit in the second, A’s manager Bob Melvin immediately got the bullpen going with Cory Gearrin. Set to try their “bullpenning” experiment for a second time on Tuesday night, a short outing from Cahill would have been disastrous.
But Cahill bounced back. Cahill escaped the second inning to limit the damage at just the two runs and went on to face the minimum for the next three innings, completing five innings of work while allowing three runs on 75 pitches before turning it over to the bullpen.
In nine starts at home, Cahill is now 5-0 with a 1.10 ERA. He improved to 6-3 overall with his ERA now at 3.60.
Matt Chapman helped get Cahill the lead back right away in the bottom half of the second with a double off CC Sabathia that drove home Marcus Semien to put the A’s ahead 4-3 at the time.
Mark Canha clubbed his 16th home run of the season in the fifth, a solo shot, to add on. Jed Lowrie also singled in a run in the fourth.