Despite a ninth-inning scare, the Yanks were in control for most of Tuesday night.
JP Sears pitched in front of 4,209 fans at Toledo last week. He was now receiving a standing ovation from a raucous crowd of 38,051 at Yankee Stadium.
Sears (3-0) made his second spot start, wearing No. 92, the highest jersey number in Yankees history for a starting pitcher, and limited the A’s to three hits in 5 2/3 innings, recording nine groundball outs. Sears threw 78 pitches at up to 95.7 mph, mixing fastballs, sliders, and changeups.
Jose Trevino followed with an RBI single off trade candidate Frankie Montas (3-8), Marwin Gonzalez homered in the second, and the Yankees won their 15th game in 19 games.
Sears was then returned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Sears, a 2017 11th-round draft pick by Seattle, was acquired after that season in a trade for right-hander Nick Rumbelow. When the 2020 minor league season was canceled due to the pandemic, Sears worked with Daniel Moskos, then the pitching coach at the Yankees’ Class A affiliate in Charleston, South Carolina, and former teammates James Reeves and Asher Wojciechowski, to fine-tune his motion.
He reached Triple-A last season and currently has a 1.83 ERA at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Sears made the Yankees’ expanded opening-day roster and appeared in two one-inning appearances before being sent down on April 18. On May 25, he made his major league debut against Baltimore after New York’s rotation was reset due to a rainout. Prior to him, Alfredo Aceves’ No. 91 was the highest number for a Yankees starting pitcher.
Sears was brought back by the Yankees to give Luis Severino, Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, Nestor Cortes, and Jordan Montgomery some extra rest. This season, the Yankees were the only team in the majors without a sixth pitcher making multiple starts.
Sears joined Clarke Schmidt and Ron Marinaccio as rookie pitchers who helped the Yankees to a 55-20 record, the best start in 75 games since the 2001 Seattle Mariners.
Clay Holmes pitched a six-hitter in the ninth inning to earn his 13th save in 14 chances. Following two catcher’s interference calls against Sean Murphy on Monday, Murphy reached on an interference call on Trevino with two outs in the ninth on a grounder to second, causing the game-ending “New York, New York” to play.
Pinch-hitter Stephen Vogt and Elvis Andrus both singled, bringing in a run, and Tony Kemp grounded out to leave two runners on base.
Sears had been taking in the scene for several hours.
UP NEXT
Taillon (8-1, 3.19 ERA) starts Wednesday’s series finale for New York after going 4-0 in his past seven starts. Oakland LHP Cole Irvin (2-5, 3.29) is 0-4 in seven starts since an IL stint caused by left shoulder soreness.
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