NEW YORK — The Yankees had the right player batting in the right spot at the right time. That much was obvious to Aaron Boone before the first pitch was thrown. What no one could have predicted was just how right he would be, twice.
Amed Rosario hit two home runs Tuesday night at a frigid Yankee Stadium, including a go-ahead 414-foot three-run blast in the bottom of the eighth inning, to lift the Yankees past the Oakland Athletics 5-3. The win pushed New York to 8-2, keeping them as the clear frontrunner in the American League East.
Boone’s pregame call on Rosario pays off in a big way
With Ryan McMahon struggling at the plate and right-hander Aaron Civale starting for Oakland, Boone tabbed Rosario to start at third base for just the second time this season. The decision spoke to how well the Yankees’ coaching staff reads matchups.
“He’s just a good hitter,” Boone said of Rosario before the game.
Rosario wasted no time making the point. In the second inning, he jumped on the first pitch from Civale and crushed a 399-foot solo home run to left field, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead.
Civale had command issues all night in the cold, walking four batters over his five innings. But aside from Rosario’s first home run, he kept the Yankees mostly in check, surrendering just two hits and striking out six.
Athletics’ third-inning burst puts Schlittler in trouble
Cam Schlittler had retired 21 consecutive batters entering Tuesday, carrying a streak that dated back to his start in Seattle on April 1. The A’s briefly changed that narrative in the third inning.
Max Muncy started it with an infield single down the third base line. Jeff McNeil followed with a single to right field. After Denzel Clarke moved both runners over on a sacrifice bunt with two strikes, Nick Kurtz stepped in and smoked a two-run double to the gap for a 2-1 Oakland lead.
Two outs later, Tyler Soderstrom added a double down the right field line to score Kurtz and make it 3-1. Those were the first runs Schlittler had allowed this season, snapping his 11.2-inning scoreless streak to open the year.
The feels-like temperature hovered around 25 degrees at first pitch, and Schlittler’s four-seam fastball averaged 96.6 mph, down from his typical velocity. Still, he did not issue a single walk, extending his season-long streak. He finished with five innings, five hits, three earned runs, no walks, seven strikeouts and 84 pitches.
Yankees strand runners early before the eighth-inning rally
The Yankees went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position on the night, with most of those failures coming before the eighth inning. Four hits through seven innings. Plenty of chances. No results.
Then came the eighth, and everything changed.
Mark Leiter Jr., the former Yankee, was called in from the Oakland bullpen. Cody Bellinger singled up the middle. Ben Rice followed with a broken-bat single to right field. Then Giancarlo Stanton sliced a single past the shortstop to pull the Yankees within 3-2.
One out later, with two runners on base, Rosario stepped in.
Rosario’s 414-foot blast ends the cold
The ball jumped off Rosario’s bat at 107.3 mph and traveled 414 feet down the left field line. Rosario dropped his bat, pounded his chest, and gestured toward his teammates in the dugout. The stadium shook.
David Bednar then came on and retired the A’s in order in the top of the ninth for his fourth save, finishing off four scoreless bullpen innings from Bird, Headrick, Cruz and Bednar in relief of Schlittler.
Rosario finished 3-for-3 with two home runs and four RBI. Stanton added the key RBI single in the eighth. In a game where the offense was mostly stifled, those two carried the Yankees home.
Yankees improve to 8-2 heading into the series
The victory extended New York’s hold on first place in the AL East. At 8-2, the Yankees remain among the best records in baseball. The Athletics fell to 3-7. Kurtz, the 2025 AL Rookie of the Year, had a two-run double but Oakland could not hold the lead.
Game 2 of the series is scheduled for Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.
Yankees vs. A’s Stats
| Athletics batting | AB | R | H | RBI | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| N. Kurtz 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .161 | .350 | .226 |
| S. Langeliers C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .275 | .326 | .650 |
| T. Soderstrom LF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .243 | .333 | .378 |
| B. Rooker DH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .162 | .256 | .324 |
| J. Wilson SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .214 | .214 | .286 |
| L. Butler RF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .185 | .267 | .333 |
| M. Muncy 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .308 | .325 | .538 |
| J. McNeil 2B | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .240 | .345 | .240 |
| D. Clarke CF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .174 | .240 | .174 |
| Totals | 29 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 12 |
| Yankees batting | AB | R | H | RBI | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| T. Grisham CF | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .147 | .326 | .235 |
| A. Judge RF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .237 | .326 | .500 |
| C. Bellinger LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .265 | .409 | .441 |
| B. Rice 1B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .379 | .550 | .828 |
| G. Stanton DH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .378 | .410 | .514 |
| J. Chisholm 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 | .238 | .275 |
| A. Rosario 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .300 | .273 | .900 |
| A. Wells C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .185 | .313 | .222 |
| J. Caballero SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .143 | .211 | .171 |
| Totals | 32 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| Athletics pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | PC-ST | ERA |
| A. Civale | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 88-52 | 2.70 |
| J. Sterner | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 27-20 | 1.50 |
| M. Leiter Jr. | 0.2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 28-17 | 10.38 |
| J. Kuhnel | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5-2 | 0.00 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 148-91 |
| Yankees pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | PC-ST | ERA |
| C. Schlittler (W) | 5.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 84-58 | 1.62 |
| J. Bird | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10-8 | 5.40 |
| B. Headrick | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 22-11 | 0.00 |
| F. Cruz | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 20-10 | 1.93 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 136-87 |
What do you think about the win today?
