So, having finished a successful series in Seattle, the Yankees moved on their road trip to Oakland to face the Athletics.

The last time that the Yankees had Gerrit Cole on the mound, a disastrous decision by Cole to intentionally walk Rafael Devers turned the game in completely the wrong direction as everything else went wrong for the Yankees’ starter and the game became a complete blowout in Boston’s favour.

Cole had let Devers get inside his head. Thankfully, there was no-one today to haunt the Yankees’ ace in quite the same fashion.

With rookie JT Ginn starting for Oakland this seemed likely to be a game when the Oakland starter would be over-matched by his more experienced opposite number. It wasn’t quite like that.

Oakland are coming to the end of their time in their grand old stadium and passions in the crowd was running high. The team needed to push themselves to feed the energy coming from the terraces.

There was a moment in the top of the 1st when the Yankees looked likely to dominate but a Gleyber Torres single was followed by an Austin Wells’ hit back to the pitcher which doubled off Torres as he tried to advance to second.

Then everything was pretty quiet as the pitchers dominated and when hits and a run came, they came off Cole. The inning started with a single from Lawrence Butler. The hit was deflected by Anthony Rizzo and ended up with Aaron Judge in rightfield. After Brent Rooker struck out, Butler stole second. Then the Athletics’ chances seemed to wilt when JJ Bleday popped out to Jazz Chisholm jr at third, and so there were two outs. However, it was turned around again when a further single into leftfield brought home Butler. The attempt to get Butler out meant that Shea Langeliers could advance to second. But Seth Brown hit into a 5-3 ground out to end the inning.

The lead, though, was short-lived and by the top of the fifth the Yankees drew level. Chisholm grounded out, and Stanton struck out, but just when it looked like the inning was going nowhere for the New York team, the tide once more looked like it was going to turn. Ginn walked Rizzo, and then gave up a single to Trent Grisham which allowed Rizzo to advance to third. Then Anthony Volpe produced another single, which he hit going into rightfield towards Butler. Rizzo then scored to erase the lead that Butler had opened minutes earlier. Grisham advanced to second, but Verdugo was out on a 4-3 fielding play. The Yankees lost their opportunity to open a lead. 1-1.

In the 6th, Michel Otanez replaced J.T. Ginn. Otanez started brightly, only conceding a walk to Judge.

In the 7th, another member of the Oakland bullpen replaced Otanez with Scott Alexander taking over on the mound. A single from Giancarlo Stanton with no-one out, brought a decision from Aaron Boone to introduce pinch-runner Jasson Dominguez rather than rely on Stanton’s very laboured running speed. It all came to nothing when a 3-6-4 doubleplay ended the inning. Still 1-1.

In the top of the 8th, Oakland introduced Tyler Ferguson in relief of Alexander. He took the Yankees down 1-2-3 including striking out Gleyber Torres swinging.

He was replaced in the top of the 9th by Mason Miller who with two outs walked Jazz Chisholm jr but closed the innings out with the strikeout of Jasson Dominguez.

No runs followed in the bottom of the 9th, and with Gerrit Cole having finished out 9 innings, the game went into extras. T.J. McFarland was brought in to provide relief and Jasson Dominguez was the runner who was on second.

And then finally the dam broke. Anthony Rizzo hit a single into right field and advanced Dominguez to third. To give themselves a little extra pace, the Yankees replaced Rizzo on first with Oswaldo Cabrera and Juan Soto who had unusually been on the bench for the game was announced as the pinch hitter replacing Trent Grisham.

McFarland began to let things get to him and one of his pitches became a passed ball when it escaped Langeliers’ mitt. The passed ball allowed Dominguez to score, and Cabrera moved up to second. Yankees 2-1.

The pinch-hitter, Soto then hit a double as Oakland’s meltdown continued. Cabrera scored. NYY 3 OAK 1.

Soto’s role in the game was spectacular but brief, with Jon Berti coming on to pinch run for him. Next, ss Anthony Volpe singled on a line drive into right field and Berti was brought home. 4-1.

Alex Verdugo was guided to bunt, and his sacrifice advanced Volpe to second. This meant that the Yankees had a chance for more runs as there was still only one out.

However, Oakland decided that it was time to stop the messy implosion of McFarland, and a call to the bullpen brought on Grant Holman.

The change immediately righted the ship, if perhaps a little too late. Holman struck out Torres and caused Austin Wells to fly out into centerfield.

So, the game entered the bottom of the 10th at 4-1, and the Yankees had to choose whether to continue with Cole or bring on a reliever. The choice was made that Cole should stay in the dugout and Luke Weaver would relieve. Cabrera (first base) and Berti (leftfield) remained in the game. This necessitated that Verdugo switched to centerfield. Brent Rooker was the “ghost runner”.

Weaver has had a great season, but tonight he hit a wobble right from the off. He gave up a single to Bleday and the hit to left field allowed Rooker to steam around the bases and score. 4-2 to New York.

Weaver gathered himself, slowed his breathing, and then struck out the next three batters he faced in order – game over.

Game 2 – After the tensions of the previous day, the game on the 21st was a good deal more relaxed. Carlos Rodon would start for New York and JP Sears was on the mound for Oakland.

After a game when runs came very slowly indeed, now they were destined to come quickly and right from the very start. Torres led off the first with a single to centerfield which was followed by a very similar single to the same part of the park. The Yankees had runners on first and second with no outs.

Sears couldn’t get a grip on matters and followed up with a walk to Judge to load the bases. Even when Giancarlo Stanton hit into a 5-4-3 doubleplay, which meant there was suddenly two outs, the hit brought Torre home and put a run on the board. 1-0 to New York.

And then? Jasson Dominguez getting a rare start, hit a single into leftfield and gave Soto the chance to score. 2-0.

The inning ended on the called strikeout of Jon Berti.

Drama was not far away in the bottom of the first either. Rodon gave up a hit to Butler, but Butler was called out at first. The Athletics consulted and made an appeal, and the call on the field was overturned. Butler safe at first.

With one out, Butler stole second and this was followed by Langeliers being walked to give Oakland two on.

However, Bleday crashed and burned, hitting into a Volpe-to-Cabrera doubleplay to end the inning.

Volpe was due more heroics when he led off the second with a homer over the left centerfield wall. Despite the mental momentum a hit like that brings, the New York team couldn’t add to that. The next three Yankees went down in order. 3-0.

In the bottom of the 2nd, with one out, Daz Cameron hit a single, and this was followed by another Athletics challenge on a play, The outcome of the challenge was that Cameron was out at second, but Tyler Nevin was ruled safe at first. Nevin, however, was out attempting to run to second with a play that saw Trevino throw to Cabrera who then threw to Torres.

In the third, the Yankees once more pounced on Sears and pounded him thoroughly. Soto hit a single into leftfield which was followed by a single into right from Judge. Then Stanton hit a three-run homer to leftfield. 6-0

Then Dominguez struck out, Berti hit a single and Volpe was walked. Cabrera made the second out with a limp fly to Zack Gelof at second. It still looked like the Yankees might widen the gap when both Berti stole third and Volpe stole second.

A 6-3 groundout ended the inning with Jose Trevino out.

Jacob Wilson hit a single in the third which no-one else could add to, and the Yankees went down in order in the top of the fourth.

Once again, the A’s led off their part of the innings with a single in the bottom of the 4th, as Langeliers hit into leftfield, but Rodon struck out two of the next three batters as he confidently dealt with the next part of the lineup.

With two outs in the fifth, Berti hit a single, but Sears got Volpe to flyout to end the inning.

In the 6th, Oakland finally replaced Sears with Brandon Bielak. Even though Sears had gathered himself, the runs he gave up early meant that it was surprising to see him going this deep in the game. There seemed very little likelihood of the Athletics getting back in the game.

In the 6th, Torres hit a single for the Yankees and Langeliers took a double off Rodon but there was no further scoring.

It was in the 7th when the brute force of the heart of the New York lineup once again came to bear. Judge led off with a mammoth home run to centerfield. Bielak was clearly rattled and walked the next two batters with Stanton and Dominguez taking their base. The first out came when Berti grounded into a forceout with both runners moving up. Volpe hit into a another forceout which brought about the 2nd out but allowed Stanton to score. 8-0

Then another two walks followed with Cabrera and Trevino reaching first and second in their turn. Volpe was now on third and the bases were loaded. A single from Torres and a fielding error by Butler meant that Volpe and Cabrera scored, and Trevino was on third. The error meant that Torres could move up to second. 10-0

The innings ended with a flyout from Juan Soto.

The Yankees decided that their huge lead meant they could relax a little. Judge was lifted and Trent Grisham was inserted into centerfield. Carlos Rodon who had overcome one or two hiccups, left with no runs conceded. Reliever Mark Leiter jr closed the Oakland lineup down without allowing anybody to reach base.

In the top of the 8th, Giancarlo Stanton hit a single and Jon Berti was hit by pitch, but no further runs were scored.

The rest of the game slipped by quietly. Tim Mayza entered in the 9th to bring the game to an end. In this laugher of a game, Oakland had only used three pitchers (they introduced Hogan Harris in the 7th) and had really allowed themselves to be demolished by the far superior New York club.

Game 3 – After a close, ten innings game and a very one-sided game, it was only expected that this should come nearer to the norm. The two starters were Luis Gil and Joey Estes. Gil went into the game with a 14-6 record which made the Yankees favourite to achieve another win.

However, it was Oakland who took an early lead despite Gleyber Torres leading off with a single. With two outs, in their half of the inning, the Athletics drew walks from Gil for Bleday, and Langeliers. Gil has really given up way too many walks this season. The situation he had created bore fruit for the opposition when Tyler Soderstrom doubled to right field. Both runners scored and a throwing error from Volpe contributed and allowed Soderstrom to advance to third.

Fortunately for Gil, he was able to gather himself when Gelof became the third out, with a line out to Soto in rightfield. 2-0 to Oakland.

These Yankees are a resilient bunch at the moment and after Estes caused Stanton to strikeout, he then gave up a walk to Chisholm. A second homerun of a truncated season for Dominguez followed and the Yankees evened the score. The rest of the inning followed somewhat uneventfully. Volpe achieved a 2-out single, but on the whole Estes had resumed his dominance. 2-2.

The bottom of the second and the top of the third were a story of two hits. For Oakland, a rightfield single for Jacob Wilson which they couldn’t build on. For the Yankees, a hit from Aaron Judge with one out, which they didn’t need to build on as it cleared the centerfield wall for a home run to let the Yankees edge into the lead. 3-2.

The bottom of the third saw a one out single for Bleday, and then not long afterwards a two out walk for Soderstrom. But once again Oakland couldn’t accrue more runs.

In the 4th, it was the Yankees turn to achieve some, but not score. The inning started with a Chisholm single and then also a stolen base for Jazz. With one out, Oakland chose to try to eliminate Chisholm in the fielders’ choice which developed out of his 3-2-5 hit. This blocked any chance that Volpe had of advancing further than first and meant that Chisholm could not return to third. A Volpe flyout ended the inning.

In the 5th, Torres hit the ball over the centerfield wall and then Soto was hit by pitch. Judge then hit a double which moved Soto up to third with no outs. Kyle Muller was brought in to relieve the struggling Estes. Wells then lined out to right for the first out, but Oakland chose to intentionally walk Stanton to give the Yankees runners on first and third. Then, a sacrifice fly for Chisholm to centerfield brought Soto home. 5-2.

Dominguez grounded out to close the top of the 5th.

It was the bottom of the 6th before there was anything more on the offensive side of the checks and balance sheet to add. With one out, Soderstrom singled to left, followed by another hit from Gelof, also towards Dominguez, which gave Oakland runners on first and second. The Yankees decided to lift Gil and bring on Ian Hamilton. This initially seemed to help the Yankees regain their composure as they gained the second out with Seth Brown lining out to first. Max Schuemann was due up next, but Oakland introduced a pinch hitter, Ryan Noda which turned out to be a very smart move on their part indeed. Noda hit a 2-run double and Oakland closed the gap. With Noda the runner in scoring position and the Athletics now trailing by only one run, he found that his role in the game was to be successful but brief. Nick Allen was introduced to pinch run. The footnote to all this movement was that Wilson lined out to centerfield as Hamilton ended the inning. 5-4.

In the 7th, with Allen remaining in the game at third base, Kyle Muller achieved one out (Soto) before Michel Otanez was introduced. This was, however, not one of the home teams better choices. I guess you can’t get them out all the time. Otanez walked Judge but improved to get the struggling Wells to ground out. However, when Otanez gave up a double to Stanton, it was Judge’s time to cross home plate. 6-4, NYY over OAK.

You might think that with Otanez being substituted, the last pitcher Oakland would call on would be McFarland, who had been so badly mauled in his last outing, but that was the direction they went in and indeed he got Chisholm to ground out 6-3 to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 7th, Tim Hill replaced Hamilton and ended the inning in quick fashion. The top of the 8th saw Anthony Rizzo hit by pitch and then McFarland replaced by Holman who tidied up matters.

Oakland’s half of the inning saw the Yankees make two changes. Verdugo replaced Dominguez and Clay Holmes, who has not been at his best took over the mound from Hill.

It did not start smoothly with Langeliers taking a single from the reliever, who then issued a walk to Soderstrom. Sensing vulnerability, Daz Cameron was brought in to pinch run for Soderstrom. Holmes then struck out Gelof before being replaced by Weaver who in turn caused both Seth Brown and pinch hitter Kyle McCann to strike out.

In the 9th, Oakland made a raft of fielding changes and introduced Alexander in relief. Again, not a great choice. Alexander walked Soto and then likewise with Judge. He then gave up a double to Wells which scored Soto and then intentionally walked Stanton. 7-4

Let’s say that Stanton is not the best to have on first base if you want chances to score. Consequently, the Yankees brought in Berti to pinch run. Then Chisholm struck out before the Yankees’ speed on the basepaths was tested. Verdugo grounded into a force out and the play was called to mean it would be Wells to third, Berti to second, and Verdugo to first as it was ruled there was interference on the slide. Despite an appeal, the call on the field was upheld. Judge was out at home. This meant that the Yankees still had the one out that the ruling gave them, and the bases loaded. Nothing came of this, however, as Rizzo struck out swinging.

With Jon Berti remaining in the line-up at DH, Weaver was charged with continuing his good work so far, which he did with aplomb, Wilson flied out, Butler struck out, and Rooker another flyout. The game ended 7-4.

The Yankees dominated this series, as they had the one in Seattle. They headed back to the Bronx with a 5-1 road trip victory in their pocket.

September 23rd was travelling day. Matters would resume on the 24th with an apparently tough series at the Stadium, vs. the second place Baltimore Orioles, which go a great distance to deciding who would take the division and who would take a Wild Card.

And so to New York…