Yankees sweep A’s, Volpe hits first career grand slam

NEW YORK — The New York Yankees completed their first series sweep of the season by defeating the Oakland Athletics 11-3 on Wednesday. During the game, rookie Anthony Volpe hit his first-ever grand slam in the fifth inning to cap off a seven-run stretch, leading the team to a decisive victory.

The Yankees will face the MLB-best Tampa Bay Rays in a four-game series, having won three consecutive games for the first time this season.

In the series against the Athletics, Harrison Bader hit a three-run homer in the first inning, which was confirmed after a review, and DJ LeMahieu hit a two-run shot in the fifth inning. The Yankees hit a total of nine home runs during the series.

Volpe, who had been struggling with a 0-for-17 hitless streak, had his first two at-bats potentially end with hits but were caught on sliding catches. However, he bounced back and hit a first-pitch fastball off Rico Garcia, driving it 419 feet and giving the Yankees a commanding 11-2 lead.

After Gleyber Torres hit a sacrifice fly, the Yankees had a 1-0 lead. Then Harrison Bader hit a ball off Oakland pitcher Kyle Muller (1-3) that went over the right field video board, resulting in a three-run homer.

During the game, Bader hit a home run to right field off Oakland’s Kyle Muller while JJ Bleday attempted to make a leaping catch. However, a fan sitting in the front row reached over and appeared to catch the ball. Umpires reviewed the play and determined that the fan’s glove was over the padding of the fence, so the homer was allowed to stand.

New York’s biggest inning this year was ignited by Aaron Judge‘s double, followed by an RBI single from Anthony Rizzo, and then home runs from DJ LeMahieu and Anthony Volpe. Judge had a strong game, finishing 3 for 4 with two runs scored.

In the second inning of the game, Oakland’s Carlos Pérez and Jace Peterson hit consecutive home runs off of New York starter Jhony Brito. This contributed to Oakland’s poor record of 8-30, which is the worst in Major League Baseball.

In the seventh inning, Bleday hit a home run off Deivi García, who made his first major league appearance since May 29, 2021, and pitched the final three innings of the game. It was also Garcia’s first career save.

Brito pitched for 4 and 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and two runs before being replaced. In the fifth inning, he left the game after Brent Rooker hit a double. Jimmy Cordero replaced Brito and was able to escape from a difficult situation where the bases were loaded.

Muller, who helped Oakland secure their first win with a starting pitcher after 33 games on Friday against Kansas City, gave up six runs and five hits in four innings during the game.

UP NEXT

On Thursday, the Yankees will begin a four-game series against Tampa Bay with Domingo Germán (2-2, 4.35 ERA) as their starting pitcher.

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