Yankees Fall to A’s on Walk Off Single

The Yankees looked to rebound from a series opening loss at the hands of the Oakland Athletics last night. They were unable to do so, losing in walk off fashion, 3-2.

Oakland had the first scoring threats of the game, loading the bases in the first inning against Yankees starter Ivan “N to the izzO, V to the izzA” Nova, but they were unable to make anything of it. They did, however, open the scoring in the bottom of the third inning when a leadoff triple by CoCo Crisp led to a sacrifice fly by Jemile Weeks.

The A’s extended their lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth through back to back doubles from back to back Brandons. Moss led the inning off with one, and Inge drove him home immediately after.

Athletics starter Tommy Milone cruised through the first five innings, striking out eight and allowing just three hits. He ran into some trouble in the top of the sixth, allowing Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira to single, but got out of the inning unscathed to preserve the two run lead. He finished seven innings, striking out ten and scattering six hits.

Once Milone came out, Russell Martin led off the top of the eighth with a solo shot to left field to bisect the Oakland lead. Mark Teixeira was hit by a pitch with two outs, but Alex Rodriguez was unable to continue the inning. The Yankees had three outs to tie or take the lead against Athletics closer Ryan Cook, who gave up a home run to Nick Swisher last night.

Robinson Cano led off the ninth and history repeated itself as he hit one out to left field to tie the game at 2.

Clay Rapada recorded the first out in the bottom of the ninth and the ball was turned over to Cody Eppley. Eppley allowed consecutive singles to Yoenis Cespedes, Jonny Gomes, and Brandon Moss, the last of which scored Cespedes for the game’s winning run.

The Yankees are back at it tomorrow night at 9:05 p.m. on 104.5 “The Team” ESPN Radio!

Player of the Game: Brandon Moss (2-5, 1 R, 1 RBI)

Moss had a hand in the first run of the game, scoring after hitting a double, and the last run of the game with his game winning single. It is hard to imagine that the A’s would have won without him.