Chapman’s 1st hit leads A’s past Yanks

OAKLAND (AP) – The disappointment of having his first career hit taken away by instant replay lasted only a few innings for Matt Chapman. He ended up delivering a much more memorable first hit.

Chapman hit a go-ahead two-run single in the eighth inning after having an earlier hit overturned and the Oakland Athletics rallied for a 7-6 victory over the New York Yankees on Friday night.

“I guess having your first hit taken away from you, just was waiting for something sweeter,” he said.

Chapman bounced back from the second-inning disappointment by delivering in the clutch in his second career game. After the Yankees intentionally walked Stephen Vogt to load the bases with one out, Chapman hit a hard grounder down the thirdbase line against Jonathan Holder (1-1) that scored two runs.

“It was exciting,” he said. “Everything seems to happen pretty fast for your first time. It was exciting looking in the dugout and seeing my teammates fired up. It was a pretty cool experience, and trying to stay in the game while hav- ing all that hit you was pretty cool.”

Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 23rd homer and Chris Carter added a solo shot for the Yankees, who have lost a season-high four straight games.

New York appeared in good shape to snap its skid after overcoming a 4-0 deficit with help from Judge’s three-run homer. They took the lead on Carter’s leadoff shot in the sixth and added an insurance run when Judge tripled and scored on a single to Starlin Castro in the seventh.

But that’s all they got and ended up on the losing end again.

Chad Pinder hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh and Chapman delivered the big hit in the eighth to give the A’s the lead one night after striking out with the bases loaded to send the game to extra innings.

“The kid is here for a reason,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We’ve seen in spring training he’s a tough kid. He wants to play, he likes to play. He’s not afraid of the situations.”

Daniel Coulombe (1-1) got four outs for the win and Santiago Casilla pitched the ninth for his 11th save in 14 chances.

Associated Press photos The Oakland Athletics’ Matt Chapman follows through on a two-run single off of the New York Yankees’ Jonathan Holder during the eighth inning of Friday night’s game in Oakland.

San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy rgues with home plate umpire Gary Cederstrom after he ejected Bochy during the seventh inning of Friday’s game against the Colorado Rockies in Denver. The Rockies won, 10-8.