The New York Yankees have not always been the most consistent team when it comes to scoring runs lately. However, when they have managed to put runs on the board, they have done so in big innings. This trend continued on Tuesday night when the Yankees feasted in the first inning of their game against the Oakland Athletics before enduring a famine for the rest of the night. Despite their offensive struggles, the Yankees’ pitching staff, led by Marcus Stroman, was able to hold on for a 4-3 victory.
Trailing 1-0 entering the bottom of the first inning, the Yankees quickly got a rally going off A’s right-hander Paul Blackburn. Juan Soto singled and Aaron Judge doubled to put runners on second and third with no outs. Giancarlo Stanton then drove them both in with a double to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. Anthony Rizzo, who had been in a slump, followed with a two-run home run to extend the lead to 4-1.
From there, Blackburn settled down and retired 17 of the final 18 batters he faced. The only other hit the Yankees managed against him was an infield single by Anthony Volpe in the second inning. After Volpe’s hit, the Yankees did not have another base runner until Austin Wells drew a leadoff walk in the eighth inning.
Stroman was not his sharpest on Tuesday, but he was still able to pitch 5 1/3 innings while keeping the A’s to three runs. He gave up a pair of solo home runs but struck out a season-high nine, with seven of those coming on his slider. Ron Marinaccio relieved Stroman and pitched a scoreless inning, followed by Caleb Ferguson and Dennis Santana, who also pitched scoreless innings. Clay Holmes then came in to secure his ninth save of the season.
With the win, the Yankees improved to 16-8 on the season. They will look to continue their winning ways on Wednesday when they face the A’s again in the second game of their three-game series.
