The Yankee offense got to Oakland starter Tyson Ross, mainly by way of the home run, and Ivan Nova got his fifth win of the season as the Yankees defeated the Athletics 6-3.
Every Yankee starter except for Derek Jeter reached base at least once in the game, and the offense was led by two-run home runs from Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher, as well as a solo shot by Robinson Cano. Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez each singled twice; and Rodriguez managed to steal a base, something we haven't seen a ton of since Brett Gardner has been on the DL.
The offense scored three unearned runs in the 3rd inning after a Coco Crisp error, and threatened in the 4th with the bases loaded and one out before A-Rod grounded into a double play. Mark Teixeira also managed to get thrown out at third for the first out of the 5th inning, trying unsuccessfully to stretch a double off the glove of Seth Smith into a triple. The ghost of Jorge Posada still remains with the Yankees in terms of base running mistakes such as that.
Ivan Nova pitched seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits and one walk while striking out four batters. The runs came on a Josh Reddick solo home run, a Kurt Suzuki sac-fly in a damage-minimizing 5th inning, and a Kila Ka`aihue solo homer in the 7th.
The game was completed by an eight pitch outing from Boone Logan in the 8th, and Rafael Soriano came on to record his fourth save of the year in the 9th. After getting two outs, you may have thought that Soriano would finally have his first 1-2-3 inning of the year, but no, he's still allergic to that sort of thing. The double by Josh Donaldson eventually amounted to nothing, and that was the game (much later than most of us East Coasters are used to).
Comment of the Game: Let's Talk About Tex Baby for giving Ibanez some defensive tips.