Cole Brilliant for 9 Innings; Yanks Explode in 10th. NY 4 Oakland 2 in 10

September 21, 2024 paperbacklou 2024 0

Gerrit Cole was brilliant for 9 innings, stifling the Athletics on 1 run and allowing the Yankee offense to finally explode in the 10th for the 4-2 win on a Friday night in Oakland.

It was a big win as Baltimore won earlier in the evening, and a loss would have narrowed the Yankee division lead to 3 games with 8 games left — the Yanks were up by 5 games just 2 days ago. Instead they kept momentum and are up by 4.

Cole made up for his last start — when he was pitching a no-hitter into the 4th but was unraveled by failure of The Plan.

Anthony Volpe got 3 hits and drove in 2 runs — including a clutch 2-out RBI single in the 5th to tie the game 1-1, and a huge RBI single in the 10th to put NY up 4-1.

Juan Soto — who was sitting due to a bruised knee he suffered diving into the right-field wall for a spectacular catch the prior game — came off the bench in the 10th to pinch-hit an RBI double that put NY up 3-1 and proved to be the game winner.

And Luke Weaver Shut ’em Down in the 10th — striking out the side after allowing a leadoff single.

“Efficient,” said manager Aaron Boone about Cole. “I thought he added and subtracted even with the fastball when he needed to. I thought he and Wells did a great job of reading swings. Pulled out a couple big changeups even at the biggest moment. I thought his slider was really good tonite. Just an outstanding performance. Nine innings — to be that pitch efficient. Just proud of him. And obviously put us position to win a game where we were struggling to get much offense going for much of it; he kept us right there.”

NY is now 90-64 with 8 games left; Oakland drops to 67-87.

1. Cole Brilliant for 9 Innings

Cole mowed through the Oakland lineup and was pitch efficient — after 7 innings he had only thrown 77 pitches, then threw an 8-pitch 8th inning to go into the 9th with 85 pitches thrown.

The only run he allowed came in the 4th — a leadoff single to Lawrence Butler, who stole 2nd, and scored on a 2-out single by Shea Langeliers.

Cole’s final line was 9 IP, 2 hits, 7 K’s, and 1 walk. He gets the win to go 7-5 3.67.

2. Excellent Yankee Defense Helps Cole

Cole was helped by Excellent Yankee defense — especially by Gleyber Torres, Anthony Volpe, and Anthony Rizzo at 1st picking throws.

In the 2nd, Gleyber Torres made this terrific play:

In the 7th, it was Gleyber to Volpe to Rizzo for an inning-ending double play:

In the 9th, Anthony Volpe made this terrific play:

3. Volpe Clutch Hit Ties It in 5th

Oakland, meanwhile, threw J.T. Ginn and 6 relievers at the Yanks. Ginn is a 25-year-old 6’2 righthander the Yanks hadn’t seen before, and he only allowed 2 singles through the first 4 innings (one to Gleyber Torres leading off the game, and one to Anthony Volpe in the 3rd) until the Yanks finally got to him in the 5th.

With 2 outs, Anthony Rizzo worked a walk, Trent Grisham singled, and Anthony Volpe got a CLUTCH RBI single to right to tie the game 1-1.

4. A’s Throw Pen at Yanks

And that was it for the Yankee offense until the 10th as the A’s threw a new reliever an inning at the Yanks from the 6th through the 10th.

  • Michel Otanez a 27-year-old 6’4 righty, pitched a shutout 6th.
  • Scott Alexander, a 35-year-old 6’2 lefty, pitched a shutout 7th.
  • Tyler Ferguson, a 30-year-old, 6’4 righty, pitched a shutout 8th.
  • Mason Miller, the 26-year-old 6’4 righty who many consider the best reliever in baseball with the 103 MPH fastball, pitched a shutout 9th.

5. Yanks Explode in 10th

With pressure mounting, the Yanks went to the 10th — Baltimore having won and a loss would drop the Yankee lead to 3 games with 8 games left — and importantly, shave 2 games off the lead in 2 days.

But finally the A’s drew a reliever that didn’t have it, as they brought out T.J. McFarland, a 35-year-old 6’3 lefty.

Anthony Rizzo ripped a hard single to right — but inherited runner Jasson Dominguez got a red light and stopped at 3rd (he had been thrown out the game before trying to score from 2nd on a single to right). Oswaldo Cabrera went in to run for Rizzo.

McFarland then threw a wild pitch and Dominguez scored — Yanks up 2-1!

Of course Oakland would be getting an inherited runner too so the Yanks could use another run and Juan Soto obliged — pinch-hitting a HUGE Double to left for a 3-1 lead.

And then Anthony Volpe added an insurance run with a HUGE single to right for a 4-1 Yankee lead.

6. Weaver Strikes Out Side for Save

To the bottom of the 10th and Luke Weaver in for the save. He allowed a leadoff single to JJ Bleday, scoring the inherited runner to make it a 4-2 game — but then bore down and struck out the side for the old ballgame!

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401570774

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