October 11, 2012: A's 4 Yankees 3 (A's win series, 3-1)

The Oakland A's have punched their ticket to the ALCS with a 4-3 win over the Yankees to win the series in 4 games. The A's once again took advantage of the homer-friendly Yankee Stadium, scoring 4 runs on 3 home runs in the first inning. Yoenis Cespedes knocked in 2, Brandon Moss followed him with a solo shot, and Josh Donaldson went deep 2 batters later. The Yankees did rally late and pulled within a run, but Russel Martin's ground out with the bases loaded in the 8th looms large as a missed opportunity.

This will be the first ALCS appearance in my 12-year replay history for the A's, who may end up meeting division rivals Texas in the series. For the Yankees, it's the first time they haven't seen game 5 of the Division Series despite 7 prior playoff appearances. They have twice lost a division series in 5, and 5 times lost the ALCS (4 to the Red Sox!).

Tough to decide on a series MVP because the A's hit just .206 in the series win and didn't have any starter pitch more than once. Brandon Moss is a potential candidate for hitting 2 homers and 3 RBI, including one of each in the deciding game, but I've decided to give it to game 2 starter Brett Anderson. Anderson allowed just 1 hit over 8 innings and evened up the series after a heartbreaking game 1 loss. He's also lined up to start game 1 of the ALCS.

BOXSCORE: 2012 Oakland Athletics At 2012 New York (AL) Yankees     10/11/2012
 
  Athletics          AB  R  H RBI AVG     Yankees            AB  R  H RBI AVG
  C.Crisp CF          3  0  0  0 .300     D.Jeter SS          5  0  1  1 .235  
  S.Drew SS           3  1  0  0 .235     I.Suzuki LF         5  0  0  0 .278  
  Y.Cespedes LF       4  1  1  2 .167     A.Rodriguez 3B      5  0  3  0 .250  
  B.Moss 1B           4  1  2  1 .278     R.Cano 2B           3  0  1  0 .214  
  J.Reddick RF        4  0  0  0 .211   B-B.Gardner PR        0  0  0  0 ----  
  J.Donaldson 3B      4  1  1  1 .167   C-J.Nix 2B            1  0  0  0 .000  
  S.Smith DH          4  0  1  0 .273     N.Swisher RF        3  0  0  0 .286  
  G.Kottaras C        2  0  0  0 .167     M.Teixeira 1B       4  0  0  0 .067  
A-D.Norris C          1  0  0  0 .200     C.Granderson CF     3  1  1  1 .167  
  C.Pennington 2B     4  0  1  0 .182     R.Martin C          4  1  0  0 .077  
                                          R.Ibanez DH         3  1  2  1 .333  
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      33  4  6  4                 Totals      36  3  8  3
 
A-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Kottaras In 8th Inning
B-Pinch Ran For Cano In 8th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Gardner In 9th Inning
 
Athletics....... 4 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  4  6  1
Yankees......... 0 0 0  0 0 0  2 0 1  -  3  8  1
 
Athletics (4-1)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
J.Parker WIN(2-0)         6 1/3   4   2   1   2   2   1 102   0.68
J.Blevins HOLD(1st)       1 1/3   2   0   0   2   1   0  28   5.40
G.Balfour HOLD(1st)       0 1/3   1   1   1   0   0   1  10   3.86
R.Cook SAVE(1st)          1       1   0   0   0   2   0  12   0.00
Totals                    9       8   3   2   4   5   2
 
Yankees (1-3)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
P.Hughes LOSS(0-1)        4       4   4   4   3   4   3  98   9.00
C.Rapada                  3       1   0   0   0   5   0  32   0.00
B.Logan                   2       1   0   0   0   2   0  23   0.00
Totals                    9       6   4   4   3  11   3
 
ATTENDANCE- 49,753 DATE- Thursday, October 11th 2012 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
UMPIRES- Paul Nauert, Dana Demuth, Kerwin Danley, Doug Eddings
T- 3:10
LEFT ON BASE- Athletics: 5  Yankees:10
DOUBLE PLAYS- Athletics: 0  Yankees: 1
ERRORS- J.Donaldson, R.Cano
DOUBLES- D.Jeter(2nd), A.Rodriguez-2(2nd)
TRIPLES- C.Pennington(1st)
HOME RUNS- Y.Cespedes(1st), B.Moss(3rd), J.Donaldson(1st), C.Granderson(1st),
           R.Ibanez(1st)
RBIs- Y.Cespedes-2(2nd), B.Moss(4th), J.Donaldson(1st), D.Jeter(3rd),
      C.Granderson(1st), R.Ibanez(1st)
WALKS- C.Crisp, S.Drew, G.Kottaras, R.Cano, N.Swisher, C.Granderson, R.Ibanez
STRIKE OUTS- C.Crisp-2, S.Drew, Y.Cespedes, B.Moss-2, J.Reddick, S.Smith-3,
             D.Norris, I.Suzuki, A.Rodriguez, J.Nix, N.Swisher-2
GIDP- J.Reddick
2-out RBI- J.Donaldson, D.Jeter
RLISP 2-out- R.Martin-3, J.Reddick, Y.Cespedes, I.Suzuki, J.Nix
 
The Oakland Athletics edged the New York (AL) Yankees at Yankee Stadium by the
score of 4 to 3.
 
Oakland came up with all the runs they needed in the 1st inning when they came
up with 4 runs on 3 hits.  That scoring would be all that was needed.  New
York (AL) had a chance to come back in the 9th but they came up short.  
 
The winning pitcher was Jarrod Parker(2-0) who allowed 2 runs in 6 and 1/3
innings. Parker got help from Ryan Cook who earned his 1st save.  Phil
Hughes(0-1) was charged with the loss.  He allowed 3 homeruns in 4 innings of
work.  
 
'It's a disheartening loss, no question about it' said Joe Girardi 'But we
have to get over it and get ready for the next game.'