The Yankees opened a three-game series against the Oakland A’s with a 5-3 loss Friday at Yankee Stadium.
Five things to know from Friday’s game
1. RHP Jameson Taillon did not get through five innings pitched for the second straight start, scattering two runs on four hits (one home run) while striking out five and walking one, throwing 76 pitches (50 strikes) in 4 2/3 frames. Taillon (1-4, 5.59 ERA) surrendered a solo shot to Matt Olson in the first and Mark Canha‘s third-inning RBI single to center scratched across another run to give the A’s an early 2-0 lead.
2. On the other side, a former top Yankees pitching prospect — A’s RHP James Kaprielian, whom New York traded in July 2017 among the haul for RHP Sonny Gray — went 5 2/3 innings, scattering three hits with two homers fueling New York’s three-run damage. Kaprielian (4-1, 2.84 ERA) threw 80 pitches (55 strikes). 1B DJ LeMahieu‘s third-inning two-run blast and 2B Rougned Odor‘s fifth-inning solo shot eventually gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead.
3. With one on and two outs in the fifth, manager Aaron Boone pulled Taillon for LHP Wandy Peralta, getting Olson — who homered earlier — to fly out. A sixth-inning return did not go as smooth for Peralta, who crumbled with two outs in the frame. After consecutive singles, Tony Kemp launched a three-run homer into the right-field seats and the A’s took a 5-3 lead.
4. While Taillon did not go deep into the game and Peralta surrendered a one-run lead, the Yankees — outside of a couple long balls — were largely silent at the plate. New York totaled four hits.
5. LHP Lucas Luetge and RHP Luisa Cessa kept the Yankees within striking distance after a trio of combined scoreless innings. Luetge relieved Peralta to start the seventh, pitching a clean frame before Cessa closed the door with one hit over an otherwise strong eighth and ninth.
Highlights
What’s next
The Yankees (36-33) and A’s (44-27) face off again Saturday at 1:05 p.m., a game in which New York RHP Domingo German (4-4, 3.88 ERA) and Oakland RHP Chris Bassitt (7-2, 3.43 ERA) are projected to start.