Gardner's speed helps Yankees finish four-game sweep
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Brett Gardner scored all the way from second base on an infield hit with two outs in the sixth inning, and Starlin Castro followed with another run-scoring single, as the New York Yankees rallied to complete a four-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics with a 5-4 victory Sunday.
Brian McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury hit solo home runs for the Yankees on a day that began with the Athletics placing ace right-hander Sonny Gray on the disabled list with a strained right trapezius.
Right-hander Michael Pineda won for the first time since April 6, getting help from three relievers to close out a 4-3 win for the Yankees in the season series.
The A's had swept a three-game series in New York last month.
Closer Aroldis Chapman pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for sixth save after shoddy defense with fellow left-hander Andrew Miller on the mound had allowed the A's to get within 5-4 in the eighth.
The Yankees took a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the eighth before inning-opening errors by shortstop Didi Gregorius and second baseman Castro put the potential tying runs on base for Oakland.
But Miller got the next three batters, allowing an unearned run on pinch hitter Billy Butler's infield out.
Stephen Vogt's two-out, two-run double in the fifth inning had given Oakland a 3-2 lead.
But the Yankees rallied in the sixth after consecutive one-out singles by Gardner and Carlos Beltran to extend their season-best winning streak to five games.
A's starter Jesse Hahn struck out McCann for the second out, but he was pulled in favor of right-hander John Axford with the switch-hitting Mark Teixeira coming to the plate.
The strategy backfired on the A's, as Teixeira hit a grounder to the right of Oakland second baseman Chris Coghlan, who was playing 20 feet onto the outfield grass.
Coghlan got to the ball and threw to first, but Teixeira got there first for an infield hit.
Starting from second, Gardner never hesitated rounding third and beat A's first baseman Yonder Alonso's throw to the plate to tie the game at 3-3.
Castro followed with a sharp single, scoring Beltran with the go-ahead run.
Beltran capped an 11-hit road trip with an RBI double in the seventh inning, giving the Yankees bullpen a two-run lead with which to work.
Right-hander Dellin Betances then tag-teamed with Miller and Chapman to take it home from there.
Pineda (2-5), who had gotten tagged for a total of 11 runs in his previous two starts, limited the A's to three runs on six hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked one.
Hahn (1-2) took the loss despite the fact he walked off the mound with a lead. He was credited with four runs allowed in 5 2/3 innings. He allowed six hits, did not walk a batter, and struck out three.
He was taken out after throwing just 73 pitches in his second start since being recalled from Triple-A Nashville last week.
McCann's homer, his sixth of the season, pulled New York into a 1-1 tie in the second inning after the A's had scored in the first on Vogt's infield out.
Ellsbury's second homer of the season gave the visitors a 2-1 lead in the third.
Beltran and Gregorius had two hits apiece for the Yankees, whose four-game sweep at Oakland was their first since July 6-8, 1979.
New York was able to go 5-2 on its weeklong trip despite a 1-2 start at Arizona.
Vogt drove in three runs, and Billy Burns scored three times after two hits and two stolen bases for Oakland, which had a losing seven-game homestand despite sweeping three from Texas to start the week.
The A's hadn't been swept in a four-game series at home since an April 26-29, 1999 series against Cleveland.
NOTES: A's manager Bob Melvin said no decision has been made on who will replace RHP Sonny Gray (strained trapezius) in the starting rotation. RHP Daniel Mengden, who has allowed just two earned runs in 27 innings for Triple-A Nashville, is a candidate for Wednesday's series finale at Seattle. ... The A's promoted a reliever, LHP Daniel Coulombe, to take Gray's spot on the active roster. ... With Gray and RF Josh Reddick (broken thumb) having been added during the Yankees series, the A's currently have a major-league-high 13 players on the disabled list. It's their most since 1979. ... A's LF Khris Davis was still bothered by tightness in his right forearm Sunday and was given the day off. The A's hope to have him available to at least DH on Monday in Seattle. ... Yankees manager Joe Girardi said RHP Luis Severino (strained right triceps) will throw a bullpen session Tuesday in New York. If all goes well, he could make an injury-rehab appearance next weekend.