OAKLAND — Leave it to the A’s to limp home from a 1-5 road trip, then completely turn it around against one of the American League’s top contenders.
They didn’t need late-game heroics Saturday, riding the strength of two Ryon Healy home runs to power past the New York Yankees 5-2 for their third win in as many days against the AL East leaders.
Matt Joyce also went deep, on the first pitch from Masahiro Tanaka (5-7) in the bottom of the first, and the A’s set themselves up for a chance to complete a four-game sweep on Father’s Day.
After beating the Yankees on rallies in their final time at-bat on the previous two nights, Oakland went a more conventional route Saturday, snapping a 2-2 tie with three runs in the fourth and getting a terrific group effort from the pitching staff. Before the game, manager Bob Melvin said his bullpen would likely be short-handed.
Then starter Jesse Hahn (3-4) could go just five innings after running his pitch count past 100 in that time on the mound. Liam Hendriks, Josh Smith, Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle passed the baton to one another, and Oakland pitchers held New York to just one hit over the final seven innings.
Here’s five things you need to know from another very warm day at the Coliseum:
Healy gets the trifecta: Healy’s previous two-home run games came on June 3 and 5. He’s got 17 homers on the season. Oakland entered the day as one of just three teams in the majors with three players to have 15-plus home runs (Healy, Yonder Alonso and Khris Davis).
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Joyce shines in the leadoff spot: Joyce drove the first pitch he saw in the first for a home run to right-center, jumpstarting a great day for him at the plate. He added a single, double and two walks, reaching base in all five plate appearances and scoring twice.
Casilla shaken up: In the fourth, A’s closer Santiago Casilla appeared to be struck by a foul ball in the dugout off the bat of teammate Jaycob Brugman. Casilla was tended to for a few minutes, then walked into the clubhouse with assistant trainer Brian Schulman. It’s unknown if Casilla would have been available anyway today after pitching each of the past two nights. His condition wasn’t immediately known.
Hahn gets the ‘W’: Hahn allowed just three hits over five innings and picked up just his second victory in his past nine starts. He walked three, struck out six and left after 105 pitches.
Lack of hustle draws boos: In the third, Khris Davis hit a towering pop-up nearly straight over his head that he obviously thought would stay foul. It didn’t, and after it drifted back into fair territory, the ball was dropped by Yankees third baseman Chase Headley. Davis never took a step toward first base, and it went for an easy 2-3 putout. Many in the crowd of 31,418 voiced their displeasure. Davis finished 0-for-5 with four strikeouts.
