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 Catcher Derek Norris and center fielder Coco Crisp hit three-run
homers, and right-hander Jesse Chavez pitched six strong innings for
the A's in a 10-5 victory at the O.co Coliseum.
The A's took two of three games against New York over the weekend.
Oakland won the season series 4-2 and improved to 14-5 in its past
19 games against the Yankees.
"Ever since I've been here, we've been built around the long ball,"
said Norris, who is in his third season. "We obviously made
ourselves a little more well-rounded, gradually over the last couple
years, but whenever we're hitting homers, we're winning. That's just
the bottom line.
"Whenever we hit homers, we win. A lot of teams could probably say
the same thing. That's kind of what we built our team around is
getting that big inning, the three-run homer to bust the game open.
That's what we did today."
Norris crushed a three-run shot off Yankees left-hander Vidal Nuno
in the first inning, and Crisp ripped a three-run shot off Nuno in
the second, giving Oakland a 6-0 lead.
The A's homered only once in their previous five games, a power
outage that followed a streak of 16 games in which they homered at
least once. Oakland, which ranks second the American League with 79
homers, launched 27 home runs during that stretch.
"It's good to see," A's manager Bob Melvin said of the home runs.
"We haven't been swinging the bat as well as we were earlier,
certainly on the power portion of it, but two big three-run homers
today gets you off to a good start."
Norris went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double and a single, raising
his batting average to .305. He hit two three-run homers on Mother's
Day against the Washington Nationals and added a three-run homer on
Father's Day against the Yankees.
"I don't know if that's exactly how I was planning it out, but yeah,
it was nice to go out and get the bats going," Norris said. "As a
whole, we've kind of been in a little bit of a slump, so it's nice
to break out of that today."
Crisp went 2-for-4, scored three runs and drove in three. Third
baseman Josh Donaldson snapped a career-high 0-for-33 streak in the
fourth inning, grounding an RBI single to right after going hitless
in his first two at-bats of the game.
Chavez (6-4) lost three of his previous four starts before getting
back on track Sunday. He allowed just one run on five hits, striking
out four and walking none.
"It's not like he was pitching poorly, but this is the type of
outing we were seeing early in the year," Melvin said.
Nuno (1-3) allowed eight runs and eight hits -- both season highs --
over three-plus innings in his shortest start of the season. Going
into the game, he was 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in six appearances on the
road, including four starts, and he hadn't allowed a home run away
from Yankee Stadium. The Yankees were 6-0 in Nuno's six career road
starts before that streak ended decisively Sunday.
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"It was pretty much not making adjustments," Nuno said. "They got
some little hits here and there and then it was just one pitch,
bang. Those two innings, it was a little frustrating not getting
ahead in the count, and they took advantage."
Yankees designated hitter Carlos Beltran went 2-for-4 with a solo
home run in the seventh, and left fielder Brett Gardner hit a
two-run shot in the ninth. Shortstop Derek Jeter went 1-for-3 with a
double, a run and an RBI in his final career regular-season game
against Oakland.
"I felt good," said Beltran, who had just four hits in his previous
30 at-bats before Sunday. "I felt rhythm at the plate. It was pretty
positive the way I felt. Hopefully I can build from that."
The A's scored four times in the fourth inning, increasing their
lead to 10-0.
The Yankees scored their only run off Chavez in the sixth when Jeter
doubled and scored on first baseman Mark Teixeira's double. Beltran
cut the lead to 10-2 with his leadoff blast in the seventh. Jeter
made it 10-3 with a sacrifice fly in the seventh, driving in right
fielder Ichiro Suzuki. Gardner's two-run blast in the ninth made it
10-5.
NOTES: Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira returned to the starting lineup
Sunday, one day after he was a late scratch because of a back spasm.
... Oakland RF Josh Reddick (hyperextended right knee) likely will
begin a rehab assignment Tuesday with Triple-A Sacramento, A's
manager Bob Melvin said before the game. ... A's 3B Josh Donaldson
was dropped from third to sixth in the order. "It's just a little
bit of a change of scenery, which you do from time to time just to
mix things up," Melvin said. ... Yankees SS Derek Jeter was honored
in a pregame ceremony before playing his final career regular-season
game against the A's. Oakland hitting coach Chili Davis and Melvin
presented him with a check for $10,002 to his foundation from the
team, as well as an assortment of parting gifts, including a
three-liter bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley.
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