Yankees topple A’s despite Oakland second baseman’s 3 home runs

The Yankees welcomed the Athletics to Yankee Stadium with four home runs on Monday night, a showing fit for a team nicknamed the Bronx Bombers. Aaron Judge, in his return from a hip strain, put the Yanks on the board when he grounded a ball off the glove of third baseman Jace Peterson, thus tying the game at one after Peterson picked up an RBI single in the first.

The Yankees welcomed the Athletics to Yankee Stadium with four home runs on Monday night, a showing fit for a team nicknamed the Bronx Bombers. On Tuesday, however, the team started scoring by moving station to station during a five-run third inning that propelled the Yankees to a 10-5 win over Oakland.

Aaron Judge, in his return from a hip strain, put the Yanks on the board when he grounded a ball off the glove of third baseman Jace Peterson, thus tying the game at one after Peterson picked up an RBI single in the first. A barrage of base knocks followed, as Anthony Rizzo, Gleyber Torres and Harrison Bader all picked up RBI singles off A’s right-hander Drew Rucinski before Jake Bauers made it 5-1 with a sacrifice fly.

Then came the power, as Torres added his second home run in as many days, a two-run shot, in the fifth inning. Bauers then did the same in the seventh.

A sacrifice fly from Judge gave the Yankees double-digit runs following an Anthony Volpe triple in the eighth.

While the Yankees maintained control of the game after the third inning, Jordan Diaz, Oakland’s second baseman, provided plenty of power himself. He began the night with just one career homer, but he crushed three off Yankees pitchers on Tuesday. The blasts totaled 1,183 feet and four RBI.

Still, the A’s were never able to regain the lead after their early run.

That’s because Clarke Schmidt delivered one of his better outings of the year against Oakland’s mediocre offense. The right-hander threw a career-high six innings while limiting Oakland to two earned runs. He walked two and allowed five hits but struck out seven over 93 pitches.

Prior to the start, Schmidt’s eighth of the year, Aaron Boone said that he wanted to see the 27-year-old rotation replacement continue to execute after a solid, though shorter, performance on May 3.

“He’s capable, and it comes down to consistent execution,” the manager said. “And if he does that, he has a chance to have success against any lineup.”

While the Yankees were able to notch their second consecutive win and get Judge back on Tuesday, they also lost Aaron Hicks midway through the game. The outfielder, after showing signs of offensive progress the last two games, left the game with left hip tightness after running the bases.

Hicks was examined at Yankee Stadium by team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad and will be reevaluated on Wednesday.

With or without Hicks, the Yankees will look to sweep the A’s in the series finale between the two last-place clubs. Right-hander Jhony Brito will start for the Yankees, while southpaw Kyle Muller will take the ball for Oakland.

Both pitchers have ERAs above 6.00

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