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The Yankees got their west coast trip started on the wrong foot when they lost the first two games of a four-game series to the struggling Oakland Athletics. They were able to win last night's game, however, and now have a chance to at least split the series with a victory this afternoon.
Today the Yankees will send out Adam Warren, fresh off his two-hit, one-run, five-k performance his last time out over 6.1 innings against the Royals. After a shaky start to the season, Warren seems to be turning into a reliable fifth starter, at least for the time being. The offense will face Jesse Chavez, who, after a breakout season in 2014, is having an even stronger year in 2015 with a 2.44 ERA and 2.80 FIP.
As for the Yankees offense, hopefully Carlos Beltran will continue to offer a revitalized bat, even as we head into June. The 38-year-old slugger has hit .308/.319/.516 with four home runs in the month of May and the Yankees will need him to continue his hot-hitting if they want to make up for the likes of Stephen Drew and Didi Gregorius in the same lineup. Luckily, Beltran isn't the only hitter who has been hot in recent days as Brian McCann seems to finally be coming around by hitting .314/.419/.686 with four dingers of his own over the last two weeks. Hopefully Jose Pirela will receive more playing time over Drew and will at least offer something better–it would be hard for him not to at this point.
Alex Rodriguez is now only 16 hits away from 3,000 and one RBI away from passing Barry Bonds for fourth place on the all-time list. Also keep on the lookout for Ramon Flores' first MLB hit, even though he's already impressed with the glove.
The A's are one of only three teams without 20 wins this season, so the Yankees should have won this series. They at least have a chance to make up for lost opportunities before they get a chance to beat up on the Seattle Mariners (just as soon as they get past Felix Hernandez–which means they're going to score 10 runs off him)