A’s Montas fails to get run support in loss to Yanks 2-1; New York has 2-0 series lead on Oakland

New York Yankees starter JP Sears throws to the Oakland A’s lineup in the top of the fourth inning at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx on Tue Jun 28, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jessica Kwong

NEW YORK.—Oakland Athletics right-handed pitcher Frankie Montas held the league-leading New York Yankees to two runs in six innings, but his teammates came up short on offense and lost 2-1 in game two of the series at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Montas had an impressive first start at Yankee Stadium. However, the A’s could not get a runner past second base until the ninth inning.

“I can’t go out there and pitch and worry about run support. I’ve got to do my job and try to keep the team in the game,” said Montas. “I mean, they’re trying to score runs. It’s not like they don’t want to.”

Oakland has scored one or less runs in a dozen of Montas’ 16 starts – and been shut out four times.

Montas tied his season-high with 105 pitches, allowed four hits, two walks and struck out seven. Among the seven he struck out was Aaron Judge, who leads the MLB in homers. A’s manager Mark Kotsay acknowledged Montas’ contribution to the team, as his record fell to 3-8.

“Frankie pitched great again and continues to go out and give us a chance to win,” said Kotsay. “He pitched six innings against a great team, and gets a loss for it.”

Despite not getting wins for his efforts, Montas has not appeared extremely frustrated, said Kotsay, praising his attitude.

“You don’t have to encourage Frankie. Frankie’s a beast. He’s going to keep pitching,” Kotsay said. “He’s a leader on our staff and a competitor. He knows where we’re at. We’ve had our struggles scoring runs.”

In the first inning, Jose Trevino singled on a ground ball to right field and DJ LeMahieu scored, putting the Yankees up 1-0. Marwin Gonzalez hit a home run on a fly ball to right center field in the second, boosting New York’s lead to 2-0.

Elvis Andrus in the ninth inning singled on a ground ball to center field, allowing Sean Murphy to score and cutting the Yankees’ lead to 2-1. But it was too little too late.

The Yankees improved to 55-20, their best 75-game start in MLB since the 2001 Seattle Mariners. Meanwhile, the A’s dropped to 25-51, the worst record in the big leagues. The A’s are 2-3 in their ten-game road trip that ends in Seattle.

First pitch for the last game of the three-game series at Yankee Stadium is at 10:05 a.m. PT on Wednesday. The A’s will start Cole Irvin (2-5, 3.29) he’ll be opposed by the Yankees Jameson Taillon (8-1, 3.19).