Errors sink A’s in loss at Yankee Stadium
Thanks to two errors, the Yankees scored five unearned runs while beating Oakland 9-5, four coming on a two-out grand slam by rookie Aaron Judge in the third inning.
The third inning should have been over before Judge stepped to the plate, but with two on and one out, A’s right fielder Matt Joyce raced toward the corner for a foul ball by Matt Holliday, and it went into his glove and plopped back out.
The error loaded the bases, and with two outs, Judge parked his first career slam into the seats in right.
New York added another unearned run the following inning when Aaron Hicks singled, stole second and went to third on catcher Josh Phegley’s throwing error.
The A’s made 97 errors last season, tied for second in the league, but they gave up only 43 unearned runs; Oakland should pass that number before midseason.
Khris Davis’ throw to third in the second inning on Didi Gregorius’ base hit to left allowed Gregorius to take second on the play.
Davis nearly made a terrific catch in the seventh, when with two outs and one on, Gary Sanchez hit a sinking liner near the line in left.
Davis did crack his 15th homer of the season in the eighth, a two-run shot off Chad Green, but the Yankees tacked on two runs in the bottom of the inning off John Axford when Brett Gardner’s bases-loaded bloop fell in near the line in left.
In the econd, Michael Pineda walked Davis, Yonder Alonso doubled and Ryon Healy, very friendly with the third-base line this series, whacked a drive that way again, driving in both runners.