OAKLAND, Calif. — In the aftermath of Domingo German achieving perfection, the Yankees’ offense finally got its day in the sun.
With their 11-run outburst on Wednesday night overshadowed by German’s perfect game, the Yankees came back on Thursday afternoon and hung another crooked number on the worst team in baseball, beating the Athletics 10-4 to claim the series at Oakland Coliseum.
For the second straight game, the Yankees batted around in an inning, using an eight-run top of the sixth on Thursday to take control.
It came on the heels of a six-run inning on Wednesday night — more than the Yankees had scored in any full game since June 13 — that provided German plenty of breathing room on his way to making history.
“I thought the guys were really energetic, almost that euphoric [feeling],” manager Aaron Boone said. “Didn’t even have time to think. It’s like, ‘Here we go. Let’s go [Thursday],’ coming off the high of Domingo. So I really felt the energy was really good early on. Then just a lot of good at-bats.”
Eight of nine Yankees in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit, led by Harrison Bader (3-for-4, double, walk) and two-hit games for Gleyber Torres, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Anthony Volpe.
Giancarlo Stanton hits a two-run run double in the top of the sixth inning at RingCentral Coliseum. Getty ImagesDJ LeMahieu reached base three times and Giancarlo Stanton broke the game open with a two-run double in the sixth.
The Yankees (45-36) also got home runs from Kiner-Falefa and Josh Donaldson, who slugged his eighth home run of the season, but the first that came in a win.
This one was a 472-foot blast, the two-run shot putting the Yankees ahead for good, 4-3, to open the sixth-inning rally.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa celebrates with Anthony Volpe after hitting a solo home run against the Oakland Athletics during the second inning. AP“We were riding the momentum from [Wednesday],” said Kiner-Falefa, who drove in three runs. “We got off to a big lead and we were able to just keep passing the baton. I think that’s the biggest thing right now is not trying to do too much. … It’s dangerous. When we’re trying to just hit singles, it ends up being bigger than it should be. I think when we’re trying to hit home runs, it backfires a little bit.”
It was some welcomed run support for Clarke Schmidt (5 ¹/₃ innings, three runs), who had pitched well of late but had nothing to show for it.
Across his last six starts entering Thursday, Schmidt had posted a 1.97 ERA, and yet the Yankees were 0-6 in those games because the offense had scored just five runs while he was still pitching.
But the Yankees took advantage of the Athletics (21-62) before flying to St. Louis for a weekend series.
Clarke Schmidt pitches against the Oakland Athletics in the bottom of the first inning. Getty Images“I’ve been saying the whole time, I knew these guys were going to break through for me eventually,” Schmidt said. “So it was good to have these guys back me up today.”
Schmidt had the unenviable task of trying to follow up German’s perfect game.
His bid lasted just three pitches as leadoff man Tony Kemp singled in the bottom of the first inning, helping the Athletics to a 1-0 lead.
After Kiner-Falefa’s home run tied it — center fielder Esteury Ruiz nearly robbed him at the wall in left-center field, but he dropped his glove (with the ball inside of it) over the fence — the Athletics went back up 3-1 in the third inning.
Josh Donaldson hits a two-run home run against the Oakland Athletics during the sixth inning. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters ConBut Bader led off the fourth with a double and later came home on Kiner-Falefa’s sacrifice fly to shallow left field, scoring on an aggressive send by third-base coach Luis Rojas.
Then Bader started the sixth-inning outburst with another single before Donaldson homered, opening the floodgates.
It was too early to tell whether the Yankees’ offensive turnaround — 21 runs on 24 hits over the last two days — was real or a product of facing the team with the highest ERA in baseball.
But the way things have been going lately for their lineup, they certainly will take it.
“Just some traction for some guys,” Boone said. “Hopefully we keep building on that. Definitely feels good to throw up some crooked numbers.”






