Oakland Athletics Recap 5/19: Josh Reddick Breaks Thumb

All good things must come to an end: The Oakland Athletics lose tonight against the New York Yankees by a score of 4-1. This halts Oakland’s four game winning streak.

The Oakland Athletics lost a surprising pitching matchup today at Oakland Coliseum against the New York Yankees. Ivan Nova went six innings in only 62 pitches and gets the win for the Yankees, allowing the single Oakland run of the game to a Josh Reddick home run. For the first five innings, Kendall Graveman matched him, and eventually pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing a second run in the sixth.

The Yankee bullpen was, in a word, perfect. Their three-headed monster of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, and Aroldis Chapman was unstoppable as the three pitchers racked up five strikeouts and allowed no runs. Joe Girardi, the Yankees manager, was wise in removing Nova after only 62 pitches. After all, when you have a bullpen as daunting as those three, you ought to play to your strengths. For the year to date, Betances’ ERA is 2.33, Miller’s is a miniscule 1.02, and Chapman with his limited appearances is at 1.50.

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The A’s bullpen fared worse, though Marc Rzepcynski and John Axford did provide goose eggs during their appearances. Still, Fernando Rodriguez, tasked with ninth-inning duties, gave up a two run home run to Carlos Beltran. Granted, he permitted a walk to Brett Gardner in which ball four was questionably outside the strike zone, but Beltran made him pay.

The worst part about this loss is a major injury to Josh Reddick. His thumb was fractured in the seventh inning in which he stole a base, sliding headfirst into the foot of Yankees second baseman Starlin Castro. His thumb was jammed straight into the second base bag as his head made contact with Starlin Castro. He remained in the game as a baserunner but was replaced by Tyler Ladendorf in right field.

For the A’s to lose their best hitter, an All-Star candidate hitting who leads the team in hits, who had hit a home run and nabbed a stolen base tonight, and who is hitting .414 in May (.322 overall), this is heartbreaking. Josh Reddick estimated that he may be out 4-6 weeks, but he is expected to see a hand specialist.

The A’s will continue on without Reddick this homestand against the Yankees, and they will need to rely on hot hitters like Danny Valencia (.352 this year) and Khris Davis (9 home runs in May) to get over this hump. With the loss, the A’s fall to 19-23.

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The Athletics continue to face the Yankees tomorrow at Oakland Coliseum. C.C. Sabathia (2-2, 3.81 ERA) faces against Sonny Gray (3-4, 5.84 ERA). First pitch is at 6:35 PM PST.