Pratt's Instant Replay: A's 4, Yankees 3

BOX SCORE

OAKLAND -- The A's had lost nine straight games to the Yankees in Oakland. They outspend the A's 209,792, 900 to 52,873,000. Facing seemingly insurmountable odds the thrifty Oakland squad went toe to toe with the Bronx Bombers and defeated them 4-3. At the PlateBefore the game Yoenis Cespedes told me that he felt bad he didn't get to play in the last series against the Yankees. He didn't waste any time acquainting himself to the so-called Evil Empire.Cespedes cracked a loud home run to left field in his first at-bat, giving the A's a 2-0 lead. His homer extends his hitting streak to a career-high seven games. Eight of his 12 homers have come with runners on base. In his second at-bat he drew a walk to load the bases. Seth Smith stepped to the plate and hit a two-run single driving in Coco Crisp and Jemile Weeks and giving the A's a 4-0 lead. A's catcher Derek Norris went 0 for 4 with two strike outs. He is mired in an 0 for 28 slump. Starting Pitching ReportA.J. Griffin threw 90 pitches over six innings of work to earn a win. He scattered seven hits, allowing just two runs and striking out four batters. He didn't walk a single Yankees hitter. For a 24-year-old rookie to challenge the vaunted Bronx Bombers in such a manner is remarkable. Griffin got in trouble in the sixth inning. He allowed three singles to load the bases. With A's killer Mark Teixeira at the plate Griffin got him to hit a deep sacrifice fly to center field, and then struck out Raul Ibanez on a filthy 67-mph curveball. Griffin pounds the strikezone and then drops a knee-buckling slow curveball. He has faced tough opposition in his starts this season. In his Major League debut he faced the Giants at home in the Battle of the Bay series, allowing just two runs. Then he held the Rangers to no runs over six innings in Texas in his second start. Griffin hasn't allowed more than three runs in any of his starts. His composure is pretty outstanding.Bullpen ReportSean Doolittle entered in the seventh inning and blanked the Yankees. Doolittle has now pitched 11.2 consecutive scoreless innings. Grant Balfour followed with a flawless eighth inning. Ryan Cook allowed a solo home run to Nick Swisher in the ninth inning. That is all he would give up as he locked down the win with his 10th save. The A's bullpen is one of the most underrated stories of the year in baseball. They have allowed five runs in the month of July (40.2 innings). In the FieldCovering baseball is fun because on any given day you could see something you've never seen before. On Thursday such a situation arose. And I'm not even talking about the potential Guiness World record 750-plus dogs in attendance. Cano hit a ball to left field that Cespedes seemed to drop on the exchange. The umpire said he never caught it. While Jeter and Rodriguez stood on second and first they both stood there frozen and confused. Cespedes then gunned the ball past third base, it was caught by Griffin who was backing up third. Griffin then ran and tagged third base for an out and then fired to second. Rodriguez on a heads up play ran from first base to second to beat the throw.The end result was a 7-1 fielder's choice, something I have never written on a scorecard and might never write again in my life. AttendanceThe A's announced a human attendance of 23,382. They were joined by an estimated 750 dogs. Dot RaceRed wins the dot race in a photo finish. Took the race by a nose -- or round -- or whatever dots have. Up NextThe Yankees will be sending Ivan Nova (10-4, 4.18 ERA) to the mound. He was defeated by the Angels in his last start, allowing six runs in six innings. Tommy Milone (9-6, 3.54 ERA) will take the mound for the A's. He needs one more win to become the first rookie in Oakland history to win 10 games.