Yankees 2, Athletics 6: Not enough offense, not enough pitching

The Yankees got another fairly lackluster performance from their starter and dropped another game to one of MLB's worst teams Friday night in Oakland. Chris Capuano had given up four runs to the Athletics before he got a single out in the third inning, aided by another Chase Headley error that saw a double play ball get through his legs. It was the Yankee third baseman's 11th error of the season, already nearly matching his highest season total of his career. Whatever is going on with Headley's glove, someone needs to figure it out soon.

Sonny Gray was, predictably, very good at keeping New York's offense in check. The Yankees were limited to two runs and four hits over eight innings. Brian McCann homered for the fourth straight game to put the Yankees on the board, and a Brett Gardner groundout drove in Didi Gregorius, who reached base via a double and advanced on a ball that got away from the catcher. Much like last night, the Yankees threatened late with two runners on base and Mark Teixeira on deck representing the tying run. Unfortunately, Stephen Drew was the batter at the plate. You need not guess how this ended. You already know.

Rookie reliever Jacob Lindgren was responsible for the final two Oakland runs when he allowed a two-run home run to Brett Lawrie. For whatever reason, Lawrie felt it necessary to scream the entire way around the bases. I guess the reasoning is "because he's Brett Lawrie" but whatever. It was pretty weird, regardless of why it happened. Hopefully this misstep by Lindgren doesn't somehow force him farther behind David Carpenter on the reliever depth chart in Joe Girardi's eyes.

Headley, Drew, and Chris Young were the only Yankees to not reach base in the game. Two runs isn't enough to get it done most nights, especially nights that involve Capuano as the starting pitcher. It seems pretty clear that the Yankees have a real opportunity to sneak into the playoffs by virtue of the fact that the AL East just isn't very good. However, for them to do so, they have to stop dropping games and series to the bottom feeders of the league. The Yankees will hope for better tomorrow with Nathan Eovaldi on the mound. It is yet another 10 pm game, because the west coast is just awful.