Obliterating Oakland

Mark Teixeira’s three-run homerun, his 30th of the season, was more than enough offense for the Yankees to beat the Oakland A’s at Yankee Stadium Tuesday night. Vin Mazzaro allowed all New York’s runs as the Athletics dropped a 9-3 decision to the Bombers in the Bronx. Teixeira’s fourth inning bomb resulted in the final tallies for the Yankees and was one of three New York homeruns. It was enough to make All-star starter, Phil Hughes, a winner for the 16th time this season. The victory also netted New York a first place spot in the AL East. The Yankees have sole possession of the division and lead by one game over Tampa.
Hughes wasn’t golden, but needed just five innings to defeat the A’s. The pinstriped hurler allowed two runs on four hits as Oakland dropped their seventh contest against New York in eight tries this season. The Bombers capitalized on a Mark Ellis error in the first inning to go ahead by three runs. Brett Gardner led the offense with a base hit and stole second before Derek Jeter drew a walk. Gardner and Jeter pulled off a double steal before Ellis’ error plated both sparkplugs. Jorge Posada tripled in Nick Swisher for the third and final run of the first frame. It was the first triple by the Yankee catcher since 2008.
The Yankees gave one back in the third on Kurt Suzuki’s sacrifice fly. New York answered in the bottom half of the third with two more tallies. Swisher rocketed a 3-0 offering from Mazzaro to stretch the Yankee lead to 5-1. The two-run drilling, in which Swisher had the green light the entire way, was his 25th of the season. It marks the second straight year the former Oakland outfielder has reached the 25 homerun mark.
The A’s scored a run on two hits in the top of the fourth. Kevin Kouzmanoff tallied a run on a Rajai Davis RBI groundout to close the gap to three runs. New York’s offense exploded in the bottom of the fourth and essentially put the game out of reach. Curtis Granderson clubbed a solo shot and Teixeira completed the scoring for the home team with his 30th long ball. Oakland added a run in the seventh off Chad Gaudin. Daric Barton slugged a solo homerun off the Yankee reliever, accounting for the only run allowed by the Bomber bullpen. The A’s fell to 4-4 on their current road trip and will to win again against New York this evening.

Parting Points: The Cincinnati Reds are amazing.