A’s take 3 of 4 from Bombers to solidify hold on 1st in AL West

9/8 – 9/9 – Oakland Coliseum

GAME 1 – Yankees 6, A’s 5 (13 inn)

New York jumped out to a quick 3-0 road lead in the first and with Mel Stottlemyre (5-1, 2.22) on the mound the dye looked to have been cast.  New York added a 4th run off of A’s starter John “Blue Moon” Odom in the 5th and on most days the Stots would be on cruise control for a easy “W”.  That was the case until Oakland struck for 5 runs in the bottom of the 6th, but somehow Stotts remained in the game and righted the ship.  Ed Sprague, who came on to replace Odom yielded a 2 out single to Jerry Kenney to score Horace Clarke.  The game went into extra innings with neither team able to score until the 13th when the Sprague couldn’t get anybody out.  Consecutive singles by Roy White and Ron Blomberg were followed by a Felipe Alou walk to load the bases.  Horace Clarke blooped one over Bando’s head to score White, but Blomberg was nailed at the plate by a hard charging Floyd Robinson.  Sprague got out of the inning, but Jack Aker was able to pitch a perfect bottom of the 13th to save the game for Stottlemyre, who did not have his best stuff, but gutted it out for 12 innings.

GAME 2 – A’s 8, Yankees 1

Oakland torched Yankee starter Fritz Peterson for 8 runs (5 earned) over 8 innings worth of work.  Two runs would have been enough for Catfish Hunter (4-3, 1.95) who left the game in the 8th after scattering 8 hits and allowing only 1 runner to find home.  Danny Cater and the bottom of the A’s lineup were the true offensive stars.  Cater was 3 for 4 with 2 RBI.  Joe Rudi, Dave Duncan and Hunter each had 2 hits and combined to score 5 of Oakland’s 8 runs.  Making a rare start, utility man Ted Kubiak had 3 RBI.  Bobby Murcer’s solo shot in the 4th accounted for New York’s lone run.

9/10 – Yankee Stadium (Double Header)

GAME 3 – A’s 6, Yankees 3

The “Big Ballpark in the Bronx” played host to this rare day/night twin bill.  Chuck Dobson (5-0, 2.14) took the hill for Oakland and again showed the type of guts and brilliance that has made him Oakland’s defacto ace.  The A’s jumped out to a 6-0 lead over the first 5 innings off of Stan Bahnsen (1-3, 5.36).  Bahnsen had huge control issues and setup two of Oakland’s runs with wild pitches.  New York came back to life in the bottom of the 6th when they scored 3.  The normally surehanded Bert Campaneris booted a grounder by Danny Cater (both teams have one, you know) and pinch hitter Rusty Torres dropped one just into the short porch in right.  Three batters later Murcer singled home Jerry Kenney to cut Oakland’s lead in half.  That’s how it would stay as Dobson gave way to Ken Sanders and Paul Lindblad, who shut the door on the Bombers.

GAME 4 – A’s 12, New York 1

When you look at the final score you have a tough time rationalizing how this contest was a great 1-1 pitcher’s duel for 7 innings.  Jim Nash (3-3, 3.92), who has done a fantastic job salvaging his season after 3 dreadful starts locked up with Mike Kekich (0-2, 5.63).  Kekich broke first when he ran out of gas in the 8th and gave up 3 runs.  Unfortunately for the Yanks Jack Aker and Gardner cracked even further.  Oakland scored 9 runs and sent 12 batters to the plate in a half inning that took over 50 minutes to play.  Incredibly this all started with 4 straight walks.  In total 6 of the 12 batters walked.  The big  blow came off the bat of one Reginald Martinez Jackson, who hit a 2 run shot and proclaimed to the New York crowd that he was ready for prime time and that he was made to hit in this ballpark.  Danny Cater of the A’s provided the lumber by going 3 for 5 with 3 RBI.  The first 4 guys in Oakland’s lineup (Campaneris, Donaldson, Cater and Jackson) all had at least 2 RBI.  New York was only able to manage 4 hits on the day as they fell below .500 for the first time all season thanks to Oakland’s double header sweep.