Yankees can’t overcome horrible first inning, lose 8-2 to the A’s

Yes, the stats about how the Yankees have hit with the bases loaded aren’t great. However, it still seemed like a pretty good sign when the Yankees did load the bases with one out in the top of the first. It was not a great sign.

After leaving the bases loaded in the top of the first, the bottom of the first ended with the Yankees already down 4-0. That was thanks mostly to bad pitching from Luis Severino and bad catching from Gary Sanchez.

It really didn’t get any better after that, and when it was finally over, the Athletics took the game and the series with a 8-2 win.

In the bottom of the first, Ramon Laureano led off the game for the A’s with a double. After that, Severino quickly bounced back and got a ground out. However, that’s when things went bad. In between then and when he recorded the second out, Severino allowed two doubles and a single, and threw two wild pitches. Sanchez also gave up two passed balls in the process. By the time the inning was over, the Yankees were already in a pretty big hole.

After allowing the Yankees to load the bases in the first, Oakland starter Mike Fiers settled down somewhat. Severino, however, did not. In the third, he walked Matt Chapman and allowed a single to Jed Lowrie, before getting a pair of outs to get on the verge of ending the inning. Instead the inning ending, Stephen Piscotty singled both runners home, and Severino’s day was done. He went just 2.2 innings, allowing six runs on six hits and a walk.

Jonathan Holder came in for him and ended the third inning, and would later come back out for the fourth. He got a little sloppy in the inning, and Oakland would eventually tack on another run with a Chapman RBI ground out.

In the fifth, the Yankees produced one of their lone highlights in the form of this play from Adeiny Hechavarria.

The Athletics added a run in the sixth. They picked up a couple hits off Luis Cessa, who was in his second inning of work at the time.

The Yankees finally got on the board in the top of the seventh. With Aaron Hicks on after a walk, Sanchez made up (a very small amount) for his earlier flubs with a massive two-run homer.

Stephen Tarpley came in for his second career appearance in the bottom of the eighth. He allowed a single, but the outing was much better than his first, as he struck out a pair of batters.

The seventh inning home run was really the only offense the Yankees had apart from the first inning failure. They recorded just five hits on the day.

With that, the Yankees do get a day off tomorrow before they head up to Seattle for more late night baseball.

Box score.