Khris Davis, Coco Crisp hit back-to-back HRs as A’s sweep Yankees
Khris Davis, Coco Crisp hit back-to-back HRs as A’s sweep Yankees
NEW YORK — Khris Davis was well overdue when he stepped to the plate in the seventh inning Thursday in a tie game.
Acquired to be a much-needed power hitter in the middle of the order, Davis made very little contact the first 2½ weeks of the season, and his strikeout rate went sky high.
On the very next pitch, Coco Crisp followed suit with a home run to left, and Chris Coghlan added a two-run shot in the eighth to help the A’s to a 7-3 victory and a series sweep, their first at New York since June 9-11, 2006.
Oakland is undefeated in six road games this season and the team has won five in a row overall, the A’s longest winning streak since June 20-25.
Davis hit 27 homers in 392 at-bats with Milwaukee last season and he is typically a slow starter, a .225 hitter in April with four homers and 15 RBIs in 236 at-bats.
Hill’s throwing error put Rodriguez at third, leading to an unearned run.
Reliever Fernando Rodriguez walked leadoff man Brett Gardner, pinch hitting for defensive wiz Aaron Hicks, and with two outs, Jacoby Ellsbury singled and Starlin Castro sent in Gardner with a base hit to center.
Oakland’s bullpen has stranded all 28 runners it has inherited, most in the majors without allowing a runner to score.
In the sixth, Lowrie hit a bouncer past third and the ball went toward the corner; Hicks, who’d nailed Danny Valencia at the plate with a 105.5 mph throw Wednesday night, threw out Lowrie with ease trying to stretch a single into a double.