“Frustrating isn’t even the right word”, Reddick said following the Oakland Athletics’ 4-1 loss to the New York Yankees on Thursday night. Miller threw a scoreless eighth and Carlos Beltran hit a two-run homer in the ninth, giving Chapman a comfortable cushion for his fifth save.
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Ivan Nova (3-1) needed only 62 pitches to navigate through six innings, yielding just one run on four hits, with no walks and three strikeouts.
It didn’t have to be such a nail-biter again, but it was – thanks to the collective bone-headed baserunning of Beltran, Chase Headley and Didi Gregorius.
It ended a four-game winning streak for the A’s (19-23), who swept three from the Yankees in NY from April 19-21 and have won 12 of the last 15 meetings in Oakland. Reddick hit a game-tying homer for the A’s only run and that was good enough for a tie through five innings, but a two-out RBI double by Aaron Hicks in the sixth did A’s starter Kendall Graveman, now 1-6, in.
That shutdown inning would be Nova’s last as Girardi went to his security blanket, one he’s now unlikely to have on Friday.
The Yankees missed multiple opportunities to break the game open but took a 2-1 lead on RBI doubles by Beltran in the third and Hicks in the sixth. With the Yankees in town, Henderson is on hand to see games pitting the two franchises for which he played the most – parts of 14 seasons with Oakland and parts of five seasons with the Yanks.
Oakland already had 11 players on the disabled list before Reddick’s injury, but his loss will be the biggest given his importance as the A’s No. 3 hitter and a Gold Glove-caliber outfielder.
The Yankees could have had another when Reddick missed an easy two-out fly ball by Brian McCann, but Beltran – who clearly thought there was only one out – held up between second and third, preventing him from scoring. Ladendorf, Chris Coghlan and Matt McBride are all candidates to replace Reddick in right field while he is injured.
Starlin Castro almost saved Beltran, but his blistering line drive was speared on a leaping catch by third baseman Danny Valencia for the third out.
As Reddick’s throw made its way to third base, Gregorius chose to make a dash for second.
The Yanks left the bases loaded in the fifth as Castro grounded out to end the inning.
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Tied at 1, Headley – with only six stolen bases in 250 games as a Yankee – led off with a single but was promptly picked off by Graveman. Dustin Ackley followed with a hit of his own, then Gregorius singled to right, advancing Ackley to third. But Gregorius made a decision to advance to second base when the throw went to third; it was a costly gamble.
