Pinstripe Power: New York Yankees Take Series From A's

As Frank Sinatra says, "That's life." The New York Yankees came into their weekend series in West Sacramento expecting to show their power, and did exactly that. In total, there were 12 home runs in the series, and notable performances from Jasson Dominguez's three home run affair on Friday and Aaron Judge's two blasts on Saturday.

Judge, a native of Linden, had many friends and family in attendance the whole weekend, including his parents. He mentioned that it "just felt like being home,” and that the whole weekend was a special one.

In the first game of the set, pitching and power was the combination for the Yankees as righty Will Warren had a great outing, going 7.1 innings giving up one earned run and had seven strikeouts. The A's offense was not as sharp, and without being able to hit the long ball against the Yankees, things were not going to fare well for them that evening.

Their bullpen was not sharp either, and between Hogan Harris and rookie Elvis Alvarado gave up six runs between them. Paul Goldschmidt went 2-for-4 with a home run, and Jasson Dominguez had a historic night in Sacramento as he hit three home runs in the game, becoming the youngest Yankees player to ever do so.

The second matchup on Saturday was a different story. Mark Kotsay mentioned post-game that after the Friday night loss there was more "emotion and anger in this group than I've seen from this year."

This manifested itself on Saturday, as the A's were able to go "yard" several times along with a nice outing from JP Sears to pair with their offensive burst. His stuff looked sharp and he ended up going five innings, giving up four hits and one earned run.

Brent Rooker's three-run home run was a difference maker, and provided a lot of life for a dugout and club that desperately needed to break out.

Luis Urías and Shea Langeliers also had home runs, and Tyler Soderstrom collected two RBI on the day going 2-for-5. This grit they showed in Saturday's win is something that is recurring for the club and a good sign as they are able to shake off tough losses and turn the page.

In Sunday's final game, Luis Severino was on the hill, and the Yankees decided it was going to be a scoring fest. Severino ended up with eight earned runs against him on nine hits with two strikeouts. Judge had another great game, going 4-for-5 with two RBI. JJ Bleday had the lone home run on the day for the green and gold.

Although disappointed with the outcome of a series loss, the A's will have to look ahead to new challenges facing them with series against the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, two NL West power teams, this week on the road.

Their pitching will have to be sharper than it was in this series against the Yankees if they want to win a series against either of those opponents.

Speaking of pitching help, the encouraging news is J.T. Ginn is nearing a return after being sidelined the last few weeks with elbow inflammation. He threw a bullpen Friday, and is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment this week.

Right-hander Landon Knack will take the mound in L.A. for the boys in blue, and as of now the A's are listing their starter as TBD. First pitch is Tuesday evening at 7:10 PDT. The spot in the rotation for the A's belongs to Jeffrey Springs.