The Sports Xchange
Jun 17, 2017
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Ryon Healy recorded his third career multi-homer game -- all coming this month -- and powered the Oakland Athletics to a 5-2 victory against the New York Yankees on Saturday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum.
The A's defeated the Yankees for the third straight time and will go for a sweep of their four-game series on Sunday afternoon.
Matt Joyce led off the first inning with a home run and went 3-for-3 with a double, two walks and two runs scored for the A's. Rookie Matt Chapman went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored in his third career major league game. He had his first two-hit game and first extra-base hit in the big leagues.
Healy hit solo homers in the second and fourth innings, both into the left-center field seats and off Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka. Healy hit two homers against the Washington Nationals on June 3 and two more against the Toronto Blue Jays on June 5 at the Coliseum.
Healy, who went 3-for-4, has 17 home runs and is tied for the team lead with Yonder Alonso and Khris Davis. Healy has 14 home runs in his past 40 games after hitting three in his first 27. In the month of June, Healy has eight home runs in 16 games. After hitting 13 home runs in 72 contests last year as a rookie, Healy has 30 career blasts in his first 139 games.
The Yankees extended their season-long losing streak to five games.
A's right-hander Jesse Hahn (3-4) struggled with his command but improved to 2-0 in three starts since returning from a stint on the disabled list with a strained right triceps. Hahn gave up two runs on three hits over five innings with six strikeouts and three walks. The Yankees had runners on base in four of Hahn's five innings, but he stranded five of them.
Tanaka (5-7) gave up five runs on eight hits, including three home runs, over four innings. He struck out 10 and walked one. Tanaka was 3-1 with a 1.29 ERA in four career starts against Oakland before Saturday.
Joyce hit his fifth career leadoff home run, sending Tanaka's first-pitch fastball into the right field seats to give Oakland a quick 1-0 lead. Joyce's leadoff homer was his first since Sept. 24, 2013, against New York at Yankee Stadium off Hiroki Kuroda.
The Yankees scored twice in the second to take a 2-1 lead, bunching singles by Ronald Torreyes, Mason Williams and Austin Romine.
But with one out in the second, Healy launched Tanaka's 2-2 splitter into the seats as the A's pulled even. Then in the fourth, Healy led off with a 428-blast, giving Oakland a 3-2 lead. This time he crushed Tanaka's 3-2 slider.
The A's scored two more runs in the fourth. Chapman lined a single to left, moved to third on Joyce's single and score on Adam Rosales' single to right. Jed Lowrie brought Chapman home with an infield single, making it 5-2.
Liam Hendriks, Josh Smith, Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle combined to blank the Yankees on two hits over the final four innings. Doolittle pitched the ninth for his second save, striking out three.
Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius went 0-4, ending his career-long, 17-game hitting streak, which was the longest active streak in the majors.
NOTES: Yankees DH Matt Holliday was a late scratch because of an allergic reaction. 2B Starlin Castro, who was slated to get his first day off this season, replaced him at DH and hit fourth. ... Yankees C Gary Sanchez (strained groin) was out of the lineup for the second straight game but pinch hit in the ninth inning. ... Yankees CF Aaron Hicks missed his second straight game but could return to the lineup Sunday. ... The A's selected RHP Michael Brady from Triple-A Nashville and optioned RHP Zach Neal to the Sounds. This marks Brady's first career call-up to the major leagues. ... INF/OF Chad Pinder was a late scratch from the lineup because of an illness. INF Adam Rosales started at shortstop in his place and hit second. ... The A's traded 3B Trevor Plouffe and cash to Tampa Bay in exchange for a player to be named or cash. Plouffe was designated for assignment Thursday.