Yankees begin West Coast trip with rout of lowly A's

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A 3,000-mile cross-country flight and day off did nothing to slow down the suddenly-hot Yankees. 

The Yankees, after appearing to finally regain their footing at the end of a nine-game homestand against postseason contenders, blew out the A’s, decidedly not a threat to play in October, 13-4, Thursday night in front of a crowd of 10,876 at Oakland Coliseum. 

The Yankees (77-48), who saw Giancarlo Stanton drive in three runs in his first game back from the injured list – which helped his team build a 10-0 lead after four innings – won their fourth straight after starting the aforementioned homestand against the Rays, Blue Jays and Mets 1-5. 

“Flying cross-country, then an off-day, I feel it would have been easy for everyone to come out a little flat,” Jameson Taillon said. “We came out the complete opposite.”

Stanton, on the IL since July 26 with left Achilles tendinitis, finished 1-for-4 with a walk.

“I felt pretty good. I was pretty happy with my bats,” Stanton said. “I was in and out of my timing a little bit, pitch by pitch, a little bit expected, but I think I did a decent job of making adjustments mid at-bat. So yeah, I'm happy with it.”

Every Yankee starter recorded at least one hit as the Bombers accumulated 20 total, getting three hits apiece from Josh Donaldson, who also drove in three runs, rookie Oswaldo Cabrera and a still resurgent Andrew Benintendi. Anthony Rizzo, Gleyber Torres, Jose Trevino and Isiah Kiner-Falefa each added two hits. The Yankees went 9-for-20 with runners in scoring position. 

“I think everybody, they handled their business at the plate,” Donaldson said. “Everybody did their job today.”

Of Stanton’s impact on the lineup, Kiner-Falefa said: “Getting Big ‘G’ back helps out a lot. Everybody seems like they’re breathing again a little (easier), so it’s nice to have him back and our lineup full strength…he’s also one of the best players there is the last couple of years. Anytime you can get a player of that caliber in the lineup, it helps everybody else out.”

Taillon, the primary beneficiary of the offensive eruption, allowed one run and six hits in improving to 12-4 with a 3.89 ERA. 

Bay Shore product Greg Weissert, making his big-league debut after being called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take the place of the injured Nestor Cortes Jr., allowed three runs and two walks over one-third of an inning. Though even with the 26-year-old's rough debut, it only “cut” the Yankees’ lead to 13-4.

“Easy wins are always nice, especially to kick off a trip like this,” Taillon said. “The offense has carried us before. No surprise but it’s nice.”  

James Kaprielian, formerly a top Yankees pitching prospect who could never stay healthy and was sent to the A’s as part of the Sonny Gray deal before the 2017 trade deadline, was overmatched in his third career start against the team that made him its first-round pick (16th overall) in 2015. The 28-year-old righty, 3-7 with a 4.29 ERA coming in, allowed eight runs and seven hits in 2 2/3 innings. The Yankees scored four runs in both the second and third innings, sending nine to the plate in the second and 10 in the third. 

Kaprielian, after working around a one-out single by Aaron Judge in the first, could not work out of trouble in the second, a 37-pitch inning. 

After Torres struck out, Donaldson walked and Cabrera, getting the start in right, singled to left. Trevino walked to load the bases for Kiner-Falefa, who banged a full-count 95-mph fastball back up the middle for a two-run single that made it 2-0. 

Judge popped out but Stanton came through with a two-out hit, lining a 0-and-2 curveball to left, the second two-run single of the inning making it 4-0. It marked Stanton’s first hit in a Major League game since July 16 against the Red Sox. 

Taillon had to work his way out of trouble in the bottom half. Seth Brown and Shea Langeliers opened the inning with back-to-back singles, but Stephen Vogt and Jonah Bride each popped out. Skye Bolt grounded to short to end the threat. 

The Yankees tacked on in the third, this time sending 10 to the plate in breaking the game open and jettisoning Kaprielian. Torres led off with a walk and came in on Donaldson’s RBI double to center. Cabrera flied out, Trevino reached on an infield single and Kiner-Falefa walked to load the bases. Benintendi’s sacrifice fly to left made it 6-0 and consecutive walks issued to Judge and Stanton brought in Trevino to make it 7-0 and end Kaprielian’s night. Lefty Kirby Sneed came on for Rizzo, who reached on an infield single to score Kiner-Falefa for an 8-0 lead. Sneed got Torres to ground to short for the third out. 

The A’s put two on with two outs in the bottom half but Taillon struck out Brown swinging to end the inning. 

An RBI double by Trevino and RBI groundout by Judge in the fourth made it 10-0. Shea Langeliers’ two-out homer in the sixth made it 10-1.

“Everyone kind of chipped in,” Aaron Boone said. “I don’t even think we hit the ball out of the ballpark tonight. But to have the level of at-bats, the extra-base hits, a lot of guys hitting the ball on the screws, was really good to see.”

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

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.