The A's surrendered four solo home runs to the Yankees on Saturday afternoon, but that's not the reason they lost the game.
Oakland left the bases loaded in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, and then left two more runners on base in the ninth. For the game, the A's left 15 men on base, going just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, as New York earned a 4-3 victory in 11 innings.
"I feel like we were right on the cusp of breaking it open a couple of times and we needed that one more hit," A's outfielder Mark Canha told reporters. "It didn't work out, unfortunately."
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With the game tied 2-2 in the sixth inning, Oakland loaded the bases with just one out. Sheldon Neuse worked the count to 3-1, but took two straight fastballs for called strikes. Chris Herrmann followed by grounding out to shortstop on the first pitch he saw.
The A's did score a run in the seventh, courtesy of a Matt Chapman RBI double, but they again left the bases loaded when Jurickson Profar flied out to left. Then in the eighth, after drawing three walks to load the bases, Matt Olson struck out swinging to end the threat.
"We left 15 (runners) on and it comes back to bite you at some point in time," A's manager Bob Melvin told reporters. "But you know what? We came back and had a lead. We were one pitch away from getting into the ninth inning with it."
Aaron Judge took care of that with a solo home run in the eighth inning, tying the game at three. Oakland had a chance to regain the lead in the ninth, but Josh Phegley struck out swinging to strand runners on first and second.
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"Guys are battling up there, so that's what you want to see," Canha said. "It just didn't go our way today."
Added starting pitcher Homer Bailey: "When you've got two teams that both really want to win every game, you're going to lose some. You're going to lose some tight ones and sometimes that's just how it goes."
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The Yankees' fourth solo home run of the day ended up winning the game as DJ LeMahieu launched an opposite-field blast off Lou Trivino in the 11th. Despite the loss, the A's are still 4-1 against the Yankees for the season, with an opportunity to win this weekend's series on Sunday.
Said Melvin: "It was a game of inches today and they finally got the big hit."