Aaron Judge hit a 3-run homer off old friend JP Sears in the 5th, and Gerrit Cole pitched masterful 1-run ball into the 8th inning to carry the Yankees to the 3-2 victory in Oakland.
Jonathan Loaisiga got some key outs in the 8th and Wandy Peralta pitched the 9th for the save.
And Yankee super rookie Oswaldo Cabrera got 3 more hits.
“He’s played well. He won the belt the other day against the Mets for his defense,” said Cole about Cabrera afterwards. “His quality at bats. His ability to play all over the field and switch hit — it’s kind of a dream for a manager. But he’s not really a utility type player — he’s probably a solid long-time major leaguer.”
About Judge, Cole said “for me it’s really special — you get the best seat in the house for the Aaron Judge show, which is one of a kind right now.”
The win was the Yankees’ 5th in a row — putting them at 78-48, back to 8.5 ahead of Tampa and 9 ahead of Toronto — which both lost, and 11.5 ahead of Baltimore. Oakland drops to 46-81.
1. Cabrera Gets 3 Hits
Yankee super rookie Oswaldo Cabrera went 3 for 4 on the night — raising his average to .286 after a week in pinstripes. He led off the 3rd with a triple against former Yankee JP Sears, who was starting for Oakland.
"He just keeps hitting" 💪 pic.twitter.com/byJFYcvmzl
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 27, 2022
Sears however got DJ LeMahieu to ground out to 2nd (not scoring the run), intentionally walked Judge (who would walk 3 times on the day), and then got Giancarlo Stanton to hit into a double play to end the threat.
2. Judge’s 49th Homer the Game Winner
JP Sears — who came in at 5-0 1.93 — continued to pitch a shutout into the top of the 5th — making Yankee Twitter rue Brian Cashman trading him at the trade deadline a few weeks ago.
But in the top of the 5th, Cabrera led off with a single, DJ LeMahieu singled, and Aaron Judge hit a 427-foot BOMB to center for a 3-0 Yankee lead.
All Rise!
427ft for BAJ 💪 pic.twitter.com/kbfCo6PQfa
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 27, 2022
3. Cole Brilliant Start Into the 8th
Meanwhile Gerrit Cole was dominant — matching Sears with shutout ball, and kept his shutout going until the 7th, when he allowed a solo homer to Jonah Bride — after going 0-2, Bride fouled off 2 pitches and took 2 balls before hitting a 376-foot homer to left.
Cole got the final outs of the 7th and pitched into the 8th, allowing a leadoff single, then an out before yielding to Jonathan Loaisiga who got pop out, strikeout to end it.
Cole 🚂 came through. @GerritCole45 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kAubegEZOL
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 27, 2022
Cole explained his performance: “Just on the attack early, good stuff, good game plan, and executed a lot of good pitches.” He used his knuckle curve early in the count at times — he felt it “was good; it played for us late in a couple of situations too.”
Cole finished with a slash line of 7.1 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 11 K’s, 2 walks. He wins to go 10-6 3.31. He became the first pitcher in the American League to get to 200 strikeouts this year.
4. Wandy Gets the Save
Wandy Peralta pitched the 9th — getting the 1st out, but then allowing a double to Chad Pinder and single to rookie catcher Aramis Garcia to make it 3-2, runner on 1st, 1 out.
But Wandy reared back and struck out Jona Bride and David MacKinnon for the old ballgame.
The Boxscore
https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401356094
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