It was another hot day in Sacramento as the Athletics and Yankees squared off in the rummer game of this three-game series, with the Yankees hoping to win their second series in a row.
With an old friend in Luis Severino on the mound for the Athletics against crafty left-hander Ryan Yarbrough, the Yankees seemingly had the pitching disadvantage in this contest. You wouldn’t know it from the final score, as New York knocked their former ace out in the fifth inning and scored 12 runs on Mother’s Day to seal the series victory.
Offense Explodes to Hand the Yankees an Easy Win
After Luis Severino delivered a scoreless inning in the first, the Yankees jumped all over the right-hander in the second inning with a barrage of hits and walks.
Four hits, two walks, and a hit by pitch would help the Yankees throw up five runs and take a decisive 5-0 lead early in this game, as Aaron Judge and Anthony Volpe picked up big RBI singles.
The scoring would continue in the third inning, with Oswaldo Cabrera smoking an RBI double that split the gap, as a speedy Jasson Dominguez would come around to score from first.
It wasn’t over yet for Luis Severino, who hoped to keep the game at 6-1 and give the Athletics a chance to claw back into this game against a Yankees’ bullpen that failed to hold the lead on Saturday.
Jasson Dominguez and Anthony Volpe would pick up a pair of hits to knock Severino out of the game, and when Mitch Spence hit Austin Wells to load the bases, it set the Yankees up for a huge inning.
Ben Rice clobbered a grand slam with two outs to break the game wide open, charging Severino with eight total earned runs on the afternoon.
An RBI double from Paul Goldschmidt in the seventh would put the Yankees’ 12th run up on the board, his third double of the afternoon. Jasson Dominguez reached three times with two hits and a walk, Aaron Judge picked up four hits, and Anthony Volpe had a multi-hit game as well to help lead the Yankees to a dominant victory.
ALSO READ: Yankees’ most underrated slugger is quietly becoming their second-best power threat
Ryan Yarbrough Gives the Yankees a Solid Start Against a Tough Opponent
Facing an Athletics team that ranked 5th in OPS on the season against left-handed pitching, Ryan Yarbrough had a huge test to pass in his second start with the Yankees. While he dodged and weaved out of trouble in a tight-knit game against the Rays in his first start, New York provided tons of run support and allowed Yarbough to attack the offense aggressively.
He walked just one batter, allowing two runs in five innings of work as the left-hander was solid and steady. He needed just 67 pitches to complete his five innings of work, and if the Yankees can continue to build him up as a starter, they could get tons of value from their initial investment in the crafty veteran.
Yarbrough now has a 3.70 ERA with the Yankees across 24.1 innings of work, filling an important role now that the team has designated Carlos Carrasco for assignment. He earned his first win of the season with this performance, and the Bronx Bombers now improve to 23-17 on the season as they sit in first place in the AL East.
They kick off a series tomorrow night at 9:40 PM against the Mariners in Seattle as they continue their West Coast trip, starting it out with a series win.