What a Strange Series That Was: Yankees Vs Oakland

I don’t know what quite to say about the Yankees vs Oakland series last weekend. Nobody played particularly well, no-one played particularly badly, and the Yankees got a three game sweep and moved to within four and a half games of the American League East leader.

Why it was strange?

It’s not everyday that you see the Yanks score a total of six runs in the course of a Saturday and Sunday game, leave around 400 people on base (OK, that’s a bit of an  overstatement – 43), and still come away with two victories.

Oh, and one of them was via a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded, while the other one was one by a screwed-up running play followed by a caught stealing). The 7-1 on Friday was a dose of normality though – the Yanks thrashed ‘em.

The Closer factor

Mariano Rivera and Huston Street struggled. They were both equally dreadful during Saturday’s game – although it was Street who blew it all on the bottom of the ninth – and Rivera wasn’t great shakes on Sunday, either. Who would have thought that two offensively-struggling teams would have got to two of baseball’s best closers?

MVP of the Series

 Robinson Cano gets my vote. He went 8-14 with a home run, three RBIs and two doubles. Not bad for someone who was mired below the Mendoza line until May 14.

Best plays of the series

Ryan Sweeney (Oakland) gets some love for a bullet throw that got Alex Rodriguez at the plate on Sunday’s game. Derek Jeter made a couple of his usual standout plays, Brett Gardner did a 'Johnny Damon' and crashed into the see-through wall in rightfield….and caught it.

The play of the series goes to Carlos Gonzalez, who managed a full length grab, robbing Jose Molina of a hit – and the winning run -- during Saturday’s game.

The Richie Factor

Since Richie Sexson has been a Yankee, the New York Yankees have been perfect. But was he a factor? He got things going on Friday with a RBI in his first at-bat, then reverted to the usual struggles.

He also walked in the 12^th inning of Saturday’s game, putting the winning run on third base. A bullet to Molina’s knee eventually won the day. Jason Giambi, on the other hand, went 2-4 on Sunday, including a home run that eventually proved to be the winner.

 A couple of interesting facts for you….

 Mariano Rivera saved the 55^th game of Andy Pettitte’s career. The save was his 24^th of the season – which is still waaaay behind LA’s Francisco Rodriguez, who saved #40 on Sunday. Oh, and Molina’s HBP walk-off was the first since 1965.

What it does to the standings

The sweep of Oakland means that the Yankees are just four and a half games back of Tampa Bay and Boston in the race for the American League East. They are also only three games back in the Wild Card race.

Oakland’s losses put them nine games behind the Los Angeles Angels (whatever happened to the Anaheim Angels, or the California Angels before that??) in the West. Ouch. 

Who's up next?

For the Yankees, they've got Minnesota at home for three games. Don't expect another three game sweep if your offense continues to be this, well, dreadful, Yankee fans. The As go from sworn enemy in New York to best friend next week....they've got a three game set at Tampa Bay.