Yankees' bats are quiet again in loss to lowly Oakland
Yankees pitcher Jhony Brito, center, hands the ball over to manager Aaron Boone, second from left, while being pulled during the sixth inning against the Athletics in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday. Credit: AP/Godofredo A. Vásquez
OAKLAND, Calif. — Calling the Oakland Athletics a lousy baseball team doesn’t quite cover it.
The 2023 A’s, at 20-60 through 80 games, have been on pace to challenge the 1962 Mets, who went 40-120, for the most losses in modern Major League Baseball history (since 1900).
This was no accident as the A’s, slated to relocate to Los Vegas sooner rather than later, entered Tuesday ranked last in the big leagues in batting average (.220), slugging (.349), OPS (.650), runs (280) and extra-base hits (188).
And that’s the club the Yankees’ Aaron Judge-less lineup could not figure out a way to beat Tuesday night, feeble as ever in a 2-1 loss in front of 13,050 at Oakland Coliseum.
“We had a couple chances but, again, just not creating enough opportunities for ourselves to break through,” said Aaron Boone, whose team went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight. “We have to get a little more consistent.”
Without Judge, on the injured list with a right big toe sprain, the Yankees have been consistent on offense — just not in a positive way.
The Yankees (43-36), coming off of a 4-2 homestand against the Mariners and Rangers — accomplished through stellar pitching more than anything — were held to seven hits by four Oakland pitchers, with righthander Phil Blackburn, with a 4.21 ERA in five previous starts, allowing one run, four hits and a walk over 5 1/3 innings. The one run came on a home run by the much-discussed and horribly slumping Josh Donaldson, who did not start any of the three games over the weekend against the Rangers and toted a .125 batting average into this series.
“I felt good overall,” said Donaldson, who flied to deep center in his first at-bat, homered in his second but struck out his last two times up. “The last two ABs, the guys made good pitches on me. If they’re doing that, they’re executing, it makes for a tough AB.”
Pinch hitter Gleyber Torres opened the ninth against lefthander Sam Moll with a single, but Donaldson (1-for-4) struck out looking and Billy McKinney lined to right. Anthony Volpe (3-for-4) beat out a grounder to short for an infield single, but Kyle Higashioka struck out swinging, earning Moll his first career save and "improving" the A's to 21-60.
“I know what these guys are capable of,” Boone said not for the first time since Judge has been out. “We’ve got to get some guys going and we’re all part of that. I don’t know if frustration’s the right [word]. We know we have a higher standard and expect more and know we’re going to be better, but we’re going through it right now a little bit.”
Yankees righty rookie Jhony Brito was very good for a second straight outing, allowing two runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings. The rookie’s reward likely will be a trip back to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday when righty reliever Ian Hamilton is activated from the injured list.
“I think it was a good outing tonight, especially using my strength, using my fastball, mixing it with all my other pitches,” Brito said through his interpreter. “Overall, good mix of pitches and execution."
Brito allowed the night’s first run in the third. Tyler Wade, a fourth-round pick of the Yankees in 2013 who played sporadically for them in the big leagues from 2017-21, yanked an 0-and-1, 96-mph fastball down the rightfield line for a one-out triple. Esteury Ruiz, the No. 9 hitter, then lined a first-pitch sinker to left, the RBI single making it 1-0.
The Yankees put a runner in scoring position in the fourth but came up empty.
Harrison Bader struck out to start the inning and Rizzo got ahead 3-and-0 before roping a double into the corner in right, making it 13 straight games in which the first baseman reached base. But Giancarlo Stanton (0-for-4), who would strand runners at first and second in the eighth when he grounded out after getting ahead 3-and-0, struck out swinging and Jake Bauers struck out looking to end the threat.
The A’s, who entered the night with an MLB-low minus-224 run differential, added on in the bottom of the fourth. Seth Brown, who came in hitting .186, launched a 1-and-0, 95-mph sinker to right, his sixth homer making it 2-0.
Donaldson cut the Yankees’ deficit in half leading off the fifth, hammering a 1-and-0 slider 423 feet to left-center, his seventh homer making it 2-1.
But that would conclude the highlight portion of the night on offense for the Yankees, who fell to 8-11 in this stretch without Judge, scoring 57 runs total in that span.
“We definitely, if you ask anyone, we expect a lot of ourselves,” Volpe said. “At the end of the day, that’s all that matters because our expectations of ourselves are going to be higher than anyone can put on us. We know our potential. It’s obviously frustrating. I don’t think that discourages anyone, I think it motivates everyone.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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