Athletics 5, Yankees 2
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Some batting slumps are better than others.
Oakland A's first baseman Brandon "all-or-nothing" Moss stands as proof.
Moss had gone just 3-for-36 in his past 18 games before facing the New York Yankees on Wednesday night, but all three hits were home runs.
Moss hit two more Wednesday, powering the A's to a 5-2 victory over the Yankees and their 10th straight home win. They beat the Yankees for the sixth straight time in Oakland.
The A's improved to 4-1 this season against the Yankees, clinching the three-game series and the season series for the first time since 2007. Oakland is 9-3 in its past 12 games against the Yankees.
In his first at-bat against Yankees right-hander Phil Hughes, Moss ripped a two-run moon shot into the right field seats, giving the A's a 2-0 lead in the second inning. After striking out in his next two at-bats, Moss crushed a leadoff home run to center off Joba Chamberlain in the eighth.
A's right-hander Dan Straily allowed two runs on three hits over 6 1/3 innings, earning the victory and improving to 4-2. He struck out three and walked one.
Hughes beat the A's on May 4 at Yankee Stadium, blanking them over eight innings on four hits with nine strikeouts and two walks in a 4-2 victory. This time he lasted just 4 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on four hits. He walked five and struck out three. He threw 95 pitches, just 55 for strikes.
The A's were without two of their biggest offensive weapons, center fielder Coco Crisp and left fielder Yoenis Cespedes. Cespedes was out with a strained left hamstring and Crisp a bruised right heel.
But Moss helped fill the offensive void with two big swings, giving him 11 home runs on the season. After going 2-for-4, he's now 5-for-40 with five home runs over his past 19 games. His past six hits have been for extra bases -- he doubled against the Rangers on May 20 -- and he hasn't had a single since May 19 against Kansas City.
Moss had the third two-homer game of his career and the second one this season.
For the second straight game, the A's grabbed a quick lead against a Yankees team that had been 27-4 when scoring first.
Josh Reddick lined a leadoff single in the second inning, and Moss launched Hughes' next pitch, a changeup, into the right field seats.
The A's increased their lead to 3-0 with a run in the fifth. Eric Sogard worked a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on John Jaso's one-out double off the right field wall.
The Yankees scored one run in the sixth and one in the seventh, cutting the lead to 3-2. In the sixth, Brett Gardner walked with one out, moved to third on Robinson Cano's single and scored on Mark Teixeira's sacrifice fly.
In the seventh, Kevin Youkilis was hit by a Straily pitch, moved to second on a wild pitch and reached third on Ichiro Suzuki's ground-out. Jayson Nix brought Youkilis home with a two-out single off Straily. Nix stole second, but A's reliever Sean Doolittle struck out pinch hitter Chris Stewart.
After Moss homered in the eighth, Jaso drove in Sogard to make it 5-2.
Doolittle pitched a scoreless eighth, and closer Grant Balfour pitched a scoreless ninth for his 35th straight save, dating to last year, and his 17th straight to start this season.
NOTES: A's manager Bob Melvin said Crisp and Cespedes are both day-to-day and could miss Thursday afternoon's game against the Yankees. The A's are 27-8 when Crisp and Cespedes are both in the starting lineup. "The results would suggest that we do very well when they're both in there, but we have to try to keep them healthy, too," Melvin said. "You just don't want to put them in a position to where something else happens and now all of a sudden they're on the DL." ... Yankees LHP CC Sabathia allowed a career-high 22 home runs last year, and he has already allowed 14 this year, including two Tuesday night in a 6-4 loss to the A's. "We're aware of it," New York manager Joe Girardi said. "We understand that the fastball velocity's not what it used to be, but my thought is that he can still really pitch at a high level. Will he give up more home runs this year than last year? Probably. It would be great if he didn't." ... The Yankees announced that they have agreed to contract terms with Eric Jagielo, the first of their three first-round draft picks this year. Jagielo, a third baseman from Notre Dame, was taken No. 26 overall.
