Yanks Fall To A’s, Rookie Pitching, And Cubans

It looked like an impossible task for the Yankees last night, a rookie pitcher. A.J. Griffin wasn’t a top draft pick, he wasn’t even a top prospect, but he’s been pitching like an ace. The Yankees started off last night’s game with a few hard hit balls, a bizarre line out to Yoennis Cespedes that had umpires scratching their heads, and ultimately no runs.

For the Athletics, Freddy Garcia took an immediate spanking by Cuban defect Yoennis Cespedes, who proceeded to homer off a down and in curveball. He also gave up a string of singles in the third, accounting for the 4 runs in his 5.2 innings of work. Although the run total was high, he had his “swing” ball working well, and earned 6 strikeouts. If Cespedes doesn’t hit the low curveball, this is a great start for Freddy.

With that said, David Phelps came in relief to seemingly try and take Garcia’s next start. The right hander looked incredible, hitting all his spots, and throwing 2.1 perfect innings with 4 strikeouts. If Garcia can’t take care of the Mariners in his next start, David Phelps might be taking over the rotation spot.

Although they were able to keep their 3 run streak going tonight, extending it to 43 games, the team certainly looked off. Perhaps it was the travel, but the team didn’t score their first runs until the 6th innings, when Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, and Nick Swisher each singled, and along with a sac-fly by Mark Teixeira, they accounted for just two runs. The third run came off a Swishalicious shot to right field off Ryan Cook, the first major league homerun he’s given up ever.

Stats-wise, Robinson Cano extended his hit streak to 22 games, tying Michael Brantley for the longest hit streak this season. He is now chasing the organizational 3rd place 29 game hit streaks by Earle Combs, Joe Gordon, and Roger Peckinspaugh, as well as the 33 game streak by Hal Chase. Not sure when/if we can start mentioning Joe DiMaggio.

Jeter, Rodriguez, and Swisher all had multi hit nights, and surprisingly, the Yankees didn’t take a single walk in their 4-3 loss.

The Yankees will look to even the series tonight, as Ivan Nova takes on left hander Tommy Milone. It’s another 10:05 PM start tonight, so make sure to grab a Red Bull.

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