Midway through the game, it was announced that Brett Gardner had been added to the All-Star Game roster. That announcement came on a day where Gardner showed why he's been so good this season. He picked up three of the eight Yankee hits on the day, leading the offense to a 6-2 win over the Athletics. Oh and that Masahiro Tanaka guy was pretty good too.
It didn't take long for the Yankees to get on the board. Prior to the announcement, the aforementioned Gardner added to his All-Star campaign with a solo home run to give the Yankees an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
The lead wouldn't last very long, though. Josh Reddick led off the second and reached thanks to catcher interference by Brian McCann. That immediately came back to haunt the Yankees when Billy Butler doubled, scoring Reddick to tie the game. Tanaka then got himself into a bit of a jam when he walked Ike Davis. He then got Brett Lawrie to ground into a double play. Butler advanced to third though, and he would score when Mark Canha doubled. Tanaka would get out of the inning after that, but it was now 2-1 A's.
In the bottom of the third, the Yankees tied the game. Jacoby Ellsbury led off the inning by drawing a walk. That was followed by a single by Gardner and a single by Mark Teixeira, the second of which scored Ellsbury. That tied the game at two.
An inning later, the Yankees retook the lead. With one out in the inning, Stephen Drew walked. Cole Figueroa then followed that with his first hit as a Yankee: a double. It was of some controversy, as it was down the left field line and hit off the umpire. It was a close call on whether it was fair or foul and whether or not it went over the bag. Bob Melvin came out and argued and the umpires discussed it, but upheld the call. Melvin seemed fine with the explanation and the Yankees now had two on with one out. Both runners would then come around to score when Ellsbury singled. After four innings, the Yankees led 4-2.
Other than that second inning were he allowed the two runs, Tanaka was strong all day. Other than when Butler reached in the fourth inning, which came when McCann allowed a third strike to get past him, Tanaka did not allow a runner to reach base after that second inning. After Tanaka struck out the first two hitters in the eighth inning, Girardi decided to go to the bullpen and bring in Chasen Shreve. Tanaka went 7.2 innings, allowing two runs on two hits and one walk, while striking out six. He was pretty excellent. Shreve came in and got the last out of the eighth.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Yankees picked up some insurance runs. Chris Young started things off by drawing a one-out walk. After Drew struck out, Figueroa picked up a ground-rule double. Ellsbury then grounded one to short. However, Marcus Semien plays short and therefore the throw to first was off. Ellsbury reached safely and both runners scored to make it 6-2 Yankees.
Shreve came back out for the ninth and retired the first two hitters before allowing a single to Reddick. That sent Girardi back out to the mound as he brought in Adam Warren. Warren came in and got three quick strikes to finish the game. That gave the Yankees a 6-2 win and the series win over the Athletics.
Tomorrow, the Yankees head up to Boston for a series against the Red Sox. Michael Pineda will start the opener for the Yankees, while Clay Buchholz will pitch for Boston.