Yankees Homer Twice Late To Beat A's, 5-1
OAKLAND (AP) -- Luke Voit hit a tiebreaking homer leading off the eighth inning, Adeiny Hechavarria also went deep and the New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics 5-1 on Tuesday night.
Brett Gardner singled twice and scored a pair of runs for New York. Aaron Hicks added two RBIs.
The Yankees didn't have a baserunner until the fifth inning and didn't get their first hit until the sixth. But they scored late off the normally reliable A's bullpen to even a series between the top two teams in the AL wild-card race.
New York increased its lead over Oakland to 4 1/2 games for the first wild card.
Four pitchers combined on a two-hitter for the Yankees. David Robertson (8-3) retired three batters to earn the win.
Voit homered on an 0-1 pitch from Fernando Rodney (4-3), a towering solo shot to left field. Voit emphatically pointed to the Yankees dugout and smiled while heading toward first base as a large contingent of New York fans at the Coliseum cheered.
It was Voit's seventh home run in 12 games.
Hicks, who drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game in the seventh, added a two-out RBI single later in the eighth.
Hechavarria homered in the ninth, his first with the Yankees after being acquired from Pittsburgh last week.
Stephen Piscotty hit his 22nd home run for Oakland.
For the second time in four games, the A's started a reliever. Liam Hendriks, who also started Saturday, pitched the first inning before Daniel Mengden took over in the second.
Mengden kept the Yankees hitless until Gleyber Torres singled just past diving shortstop Marcus Semien. Torres was promptly picked off by Ryan Buchter.
Piscotty homered off Yankees starter J.A. Happ in the second, matching his season high set in 2016 with St. Louis.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Yankees: For the second consecutive day, Aaron Judge ran the bases and did defensive work in the outfield. Judge also stood in the batter's box when Masahiro Tanaka threw a bullpen in order to work on his timing. . SS Didi Gregorious (bruised left heel) could rejoin the team this weekend in Seattle. Gregorious ran on the field, fielded grounders and took batting practice. . LHP Aroldis Chapman (left knee tendinitis) worked out on a treadmill and threw on flat ground.
Athletics: RHP Shawn Kelley has a lacerated finger on his pitching hand and is day to day.
UP NEXT
RHP Luis Severino (17-6, 3.32 ERA) pitches the series finale for New York and needs one strikeout to reach 200 for the second consecutive season. RHP Mike Fiers (10-6, 3.38) is 3-0 with a 2.93 ERA in five starts since joining Oakland. The A's have won all five of his starts.
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