Hiroki Kuroda dominated the A’s bats. (Reuters)
OAKLAND — Having taken full advantage of a Memorial Day weekend gift from the schedule maker, the Yankees vacated the Bay Area last night headed back to the big leagues.
Starting tonight in Southern California, the Yankees open a three-game series against the rejuvenated Angels riding a season-high five-game winning streak.
However, Yankees fans should remind themselves the final three victories in that streak were against the Triple-A’s, easily the worst hitting club in the game.
Following yesterday’s 2-0 win over the hapless A’s in front of 25,078 at the Coliseum, where the Yankees received eight strong innings from Hiroki Kuroda, the Bombers prepped for the Angels, who have won six straight.
“We know the Angels are tough to play,’’ said Mark Teixeira, who stayed hot with a 2-for-4 game and an RBI. “Their starting pitching might be the best in baseball.’’
And Albert Pujols has rebounded from a brutal April, when he hit no home runs and had only four RBIs, with a solid May, hitting seven homers and driving in 22 RBIs.
As for yesterday’s activity, the A’s barely put a glove on Kuroda, who had lost his last two starts.
Working with a biting slider and a change-up the A’s couldn’t handle, Kuroda also succeeded in getting his fastball into the bottom of the strike zone.
“His fastball was the best I have seen all year,’’ catcher Chris Stewart said of Kuroda, who improved to 4-6 and tied a season-high by going eight innings in which he allowed four hits.
Never having seen Tommy Milone before, designated hitter Andruw Jones’ knowledge of the lefty was through video.
“I looked at the tape and he liked the fastball down and away on the first pitch,’’ said Jones, who got Milone’s first pitch where he expected it and crushed it over the left-center field fence for a 1-0 lead in the second.
Teixeira drove Curtis Granderson home from first with a two-out double to right-center in the seventh for a 2-0 lead that Kuroda almost gave back.
With runners at the corners and one out in the seventh, Kuroda fanned Kila Ka’aihue and retired Josh Donaldson on a stress-free fly to right.
“He gave me two good pitches to hit and I put good swings on [them],’’ said Teixeira, who went 7-for-14 (.500) with three homers and eight RBIs in three games against the A’s.
The Yankees’ ninth straight win at the Coliseum enabled them to pull within 2 1/2 games of the AL East-leading Orioles and Rays. The five-game winning streak follows a stretch where the Yankees dropped seven of nine.
“It’s a long season, you take the good with the bad,’’ said Derek Jeter, who went 1-for-5 and moved past Hall of Famer George Brett into 14th place on the all-time list with 3,155.
The weekend in the Coliseum was as good as it gets for the Yankees, who took advantage of Christmas in May.
Now, it’s back to playing a legitimate big league club that has seemingly cleared its throat.
Yet, a five-game winning streak can’t be dismissed and watching Teixeira get hot was impressive.
“We are not 3-0 without him,’’ manager Joe Girardi said of his switch-hitting first baseman.
Or the help provided from the schedule maker who put a lineup in front of the Yankees that scored five runs in three games.
