New York Yankees 7, Oakland Athletics 2
NEW YORK — Aaron Hicks got out of his season-long slump with a two-run homer, and the New York Yankees hit four home runs to beat the Oakland Athletics 7-2 on Monday night.
In the sixth inning, Gleyber Torres hit a solo home run off former Yankees lefty JP Sears (0-3), which broke a tie. Oswaldo Cabrera and DJ LeMahieu both hit two-run home runs off of Sears, keeping New York (19-17) from falling back to .500 for the second time in a week.
Aaron Hicks doubled his RBI total for the year when he homered in the seventh inning against Boston for the first time since September 23. It was his second extra-base hit of the season. He started the night with a batting average of .143, and he hadn’t hit a home run at Yankee Stadium all season. Before he did, he was 0 for 19 there, which made people boo him a lot.
The switch-hitter Hicks hit the first pitch from Austin Pruitt into the second deck in right field from the left side of the plate. Before going around the bases, he put down his bat and watched the ball fly into the stands.
After Hicks crossed home plate, he yelled and was surrounded by his teammates in the bench.
The Yankees won for the fourth time in 10 games without power hitter Aaron Judge, who has been on the injured list because of a strained right hip. Judge is due back on Tuesday.
Torres broke the tie by hitting a fastball into the seats in left field. Right fielder Ramón Laureano stopped him from hitting a home run in the second at-bat of the game.
On the second pitch of the night, Laureano ran back and jumped while reaching his glove over the wall to stop Torres from homering into the first row.
As he finished the grab, Laureano’s neck and shoulder hit the fence hard. Laureano then dropped the ball, asked for an athletic trainer, and was relieved by JJ Bleday.
After Torres hit a home run, Anthony Rizzo followed with a single, and LeMahieu also reached the left-field stands to get Sears out.
Nestor Cortes got back on track after his worst start with the Yankees. In five plus innings, he gave up two runs on six hits. The left-handed pitcher’s start was moved back because he had strep throat. On April 30 at Texas, he gave up seven runs and five hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Before the Yankees took the lead back, Tony Kemp drove in a run with an infield single, and Jace Peterson drew a bases-loaded walk from Ron Marinaccio in the sixth to tie the game at 2.
Marinaccio (2-1) got Nick Allen to hit into a double play to end the sixth, and Ian Hamilton left two runners on in the seventh.
Last year, at the trade deadline, Oakland got four prospects from the Yankees in exchange for Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino. Sears was one of those prospects. In 5 1/3 innings, Sears gave up five runs and six hits.
The worst team in the big league, the A’s, dropped to 8-28 after winning their first series of the year in Kansas City.
UP NEXT
On Tuesday night, the right-handed pitcher for New York, Clarke Schmidt (0-3, 5.83), will face off against the right-handed pitcher for Oakland, Drew Rucinski (0-2, 7.71).
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