A’s belt four homers to sweep Yankees, stay perfect on road
NEW YORK — The A’s lost their cleanup hitter for 15 days Thursday.
He couldn’t have been prouder to sit and watch what happened.
With Danny Valencia on the bench, Oakland’s offense erupted with four homers in a 7-3 win over New York that extended the A’s winning streak to five games.
“That was awesome,’’ Valencia said of the victory after getting word that a left hamstring injury was sending him to the disabled list. He’ll have an MRI exam Friday in Oakland. “We’ve been playing really well for the last five or six days.
“There’s a good vibe in here. This is a good bunch of guys. And it’s a team that is going to do some pretty special things, to be honest. People can look at us as the underdog, but we’re going to open up some guys for the rest of this month, that’s for sure.’’
Khris Davis and Coco Crisp hit back-to-back first-pitch homers in the seventh inning to snap a 2-all tie. That completed a three-game sweep that was Oakland’s first at the new Yankee Stadium, which opened in 2009. The A’s have moved two games over .500 at 9-7 for the first time since the end of the 2014 season. And they’ve won six consecutive times on the road to start the season, just the fourth A’s team to make that claim.
“It’s exciting. Guys are joking around in here calling ourselves ‘Road Warriors,’ ’’ Davis said after his first homer of the year. He had 27 for Milwaukee a year ago. “I think we take a lot of pride in that. There are some jokes, but at the same time it’s kind of serious.’’
The win came in large part because four homers supported a good start from Rich Hill, who allowed three hits and two runs, one earned, in six innings while striking out 10.
Mark Canha ended a 33 ⁄ inning homerless drought for the A’s with a solo shot in the fifth that tied the game. When the Yankees turned to reliever Chasen Shreve to begin the seventh, his first pitch landed in center field courtesy of Davis, and the next was hit by Coco Crisp out to left.
“It goes to show you what a roller-coaster baseball is,’’ Crisp said of the turnaround. “You go out, swing the bat and whatever happens, happens. You go out there and keep battling, keep trying to grind out those wins.’’
The Yankees nicked reliever Fernando Rodriguez for a run in the seventh to close to within 4-3, but Chris Coghlan stepped up in the eighth with the A’s fourth homer, a two-run shot that put the game essentially out of reach.
“We struggled out of the gate offensively,’’ Coghlan said. “Our pitching has really picked us up and kept us close. Tonight was good. I was really proud of K-D. I know it’s been a grind for him. But he came up with a big hit last night and just hit a bomb tonight. And Coco was doing his thing. It was just a great team win.
“It seems like some guys, including myself, who got off to a slower start, are coming around. Each person can speak for himself, but I feel a lot better. There’s more consistent hard contact. I’m just trying to adjust constantly. But if we can do what we’re capable of, we can beat anybody in the game if we execute.
“At the same time, we have enough respect to know that we can lose to anybody in the game if we don’t execute.’’
Coghlan looked at the 6-0 road record and said “that’s what’s great about baseball. You can’t explain everything.’’
Oakland is in Toronto for three this weekend and four in Detroit starting Monday, so the A’s are going to need to continue to be Road Warriors if they’re going to keep pace with Texas in the American League West.
The plan was for Valencia to fly with the A’s to Toronto after Thursday’s game, then to jump on an early plane to the Bay Area on Friday and go in for his MRI. “I want to get this done now; I don’t want to wait,’’ Valencia said. “I don’t think this is serious. It would take maybe seven days. But we can’t go with a short bench. I would be extremely upset if I’m not back the exact day and in the lineup. That’s the goal.’’ He had hoped to play in Toronto, where he played last year, but that’s not happening.
Infielder/outfielder Tyler Ladendorf is expected to be added to the A’s roster Friday in Toronto. He was held out of Thursday’s game with Triple-A Nashville.
Right-handed starter Henderson Alvarez’s next start as he comes back from last July’s shoulder surgery will be Monday with Nashville. He’s down to throw three innings and about 45 pitches or a few more in what will be his second injury rehabilitation start.