A's 5, Yankees 4
NEW YORK -- Josh Donaldson hit a one-out solo home run in the top of the eighth inning and the Oakland Athletics rebounded from blowing a three-run lead in a 5-4 victory over the New York Yankees on Sunday afternoon.
Donaldson hit one of three home runs for Oakland, which won for the fifth time in seven games. Luke Montz and Yoenis Cespedes connected off Andy Pettitte as the Athletics took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth.
Oakland was unable to keep that lead but Donaldson restored it by turning on a 2-1 fastball from Boone Logan (2-2) and sending it well over the left field fence. It was his third home run of the season and 12th hit in 35 at-bats against left-handed pitching this season.
Sean Doolittle (2-0) earned the win after Donaldson connected. Doolittle got five outs to preserve A.J. Griffin's victory in the series opener and pitched a scoreless seventh on Sunday.
In the eighth inning, Ryan Cook gave up consecutive one-out singles to Travis Hafner and Ichiro Suzuki but fanned Jayson Nix and retired Lyle Overbay on a fly ball to the warning track in right-center field.
Grant Balfour allowed a two-out single to Brett Gardner in the ninth but struck out Vernon Wells on a high fastball with two on for his fifth save in as many opportunities.
Dan Straily made his second start in place of Brett Anderson and was charged with three runs while allowing four hits in 5 1/3 innings. He left the game with two on in the sixth and Jerry Blevins gave up an RBI double to Ichiro Suzuki and a run-scoring single to LyleOverbay.
Before Oakland squandered the lead, it wore out Pettitte by knocking him out after five innings. Montz led off the fourth with a solo shot and Cespedes hit a two-run home run with one out in the fifth.
Pettitte turned in his second straight shaky start as he struggled to find movement with his signature cut fastball. He allowed four runs (three earned) and four hits while issuing four walks for the first time since July 8, 2010.
NOTES: New York CF Curtis Granderson appears to be the closest of any of New York's injured players to returning. He is spending time rehabbing from a broken forearm suffered Feb. 24 and is taking fly balls in all three positions. Granderson is currently playing in extended spring training games and actually got hit by a pitch on Saturday. However, manager Joe Girardi said it was in the triceps. Granderson will be joined by other big names at the minor league complex when Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira start that segment of their rehabs. ... RHP David Robertson tested his hamstring by playing catch before the game. ... Athletics OF Chris Young (quad) flew back to Oakland to rehab with LHP Brett Anderson (ankle) and Coco Crisp (hamstring). Crisp walked without any soreness for the first time Saturday while Anderson is playing catch. ... OF Michael Taylor made his second start of the season after being promoted Saturday to replace Young. ... INF Hiro Nakajima played in a rehab game Friday for Class AAA Sacramento but did not play after experiencing some tightness in his hamstring. Nakajima has been on the DL since March 27 with a strained left hamstring. ... New York SS Eduardo Nunez left the game after the fourth inning with tightness in his ribcage and was headed for an MRI. ... Oakland C Derek Norris appeared to hurt his hand on the wild pitch by Balfour but after consulting with the trainer, he stayed in.
