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The offense was eh, Kuroda was meh, the defense was ugh and the seven game win streak was snapped as the Yankees fell 5-4 to the Athletics in the final game of this crazy, crazy series.
Hiroki Kuroda's struggles began immediately, giving up three runs in the first two innings. Stephen Drew led off the game with an infield single. He went to third on a Brandon Moss double and came around to score on a wild pitch. Cliff Pennington hit a two run home run, in the bottom of the second, to give the A's a 3-0 lead. Quick interjection to point out that it should have only been a one run home run. Josh Donaldson reached on an infield single to lead off the inning. Despite the umpire calling him safe, Donaldson looked to be out. Add that to the weird strike zone all day, footage from this game shouldn't be sent to umpire training school.
But the Yankees managed to get all of those runs back in the bottom of the fourth. Robinson Cano singled and then advanced to second on an error. Nick Swisher then crushed a two run home run to cut the lead to one run. Curtis Granderson singled, and Russell Martin reached on an infield single. Raul Ibanez then doubled to score Granderson tying the game. Nunez's groundout was enough to score Martin to give the Yankees the lead.
The lead wouldn't last long as Kuroda's struggles continued in the top of the fifth. Pennington singled to lead off, followed by a Seth Smith walk. A Kuroda wild pitch allowed the runners to move up, and a Cespedes single scored Pennington. Kuroda escaped without any more damage, but the game was tied.
The sixth inning saw the defense go to crap. Nunez threw away a Donaldson ground ball, allowing him to go to second. Pennington's single scored Donaldson to give the A's the lead. Kuroda was then taken out for Clay Rapada, whose first action was throwing the ball away on a pickoff attempt, allowing Pennington to go to third. Rapada got out of the inning without him scoring though.
The A's bullpen would do its job, as the Yankees would never get another serious rally going, losing 5-4.
Despite the loss, the Yankees remain in first by themselves as the Red Sox beat the Orioles. The Yankees hit the road tomorrow, traveling to Minnesota for a three game series at Target Field.