A's take 2 of 3 from Bombers

8/26 - Network Assoc Col
Hughes vs Lidle
A's 3, Yankees 1

Johnny Damon's lead off single in the top of the 6th was the Yankees first hit of the day.  "El Cap-e-tan", Derrek Jeter's double down the left field line scored New York's only run of the day.  Cory Lidle left the game in the 9th after getting the first out of the inning.  Izzy came on to get Jeter and Abreu to ground out and end the game, while notching his 5th save of the young season.  Oakland scored solo runs in the 2nd and 3rd off of rookie Philip Hughes.  Eric Chavez' lead off shot in the second made it 1-0.  Hernandez' single to center scored Tejada with 2 out in the 3rd to make it 2-0.  Hernandez' sac fly in the 7th supplied Lidle and Izzy with a nice insurance run.

8/27
Pettitte vs Hudson
Yankees 10, A's 0
Andy Pettitte and Ron Villone combined to blank the A's and allow just 5 hits.  Tim Hudson was horrible giving up 7 runs in 4 2/3 innings before the Yanks knocked him out of the box.  A-Rod and Posada both had 2 for 3 days.  Both also scored 3 times and Posada knocked in 2.  Defensive first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz had 3 RBI's on a day when Oakland's ace looked more like a joker.

8/28 - Yankee Stadium

Mulder vs Wang
A's 5, Yankees 3 (12 inn)

Fans at "The Stadium" were treated to a 12 inning instant classic that had just about everything you could imagine, sans a Yankee victory.  Both starters (Mulder & Wang) came as advertised.  Mulder went 7 innings and gave up 2 runs, which came on a Hideki Matsui 2 run shot in the 4th.  Wang gave up just 1 run in the top of the 2nd when Jeremy Giambi and Jermaine Dye hit back to back doubles.  Oakland rallied for 2 runs in the top of the 8th to take a 3-2 lead thanks to a two run double by catcher Ramon Hernandez.  A two out error by Jason Giambi on Johnny Damon's grounder led to A-Rod scoring the tying run.  With neither team scoring in the 9th the game moved into extra innings.  The Bronx Bombers looked like a shoe in to win it in the bottom of the 11th.  Miguel Cairo bunted for a singled with 1 out and stole second off of Jim Mecir.  Molina grounded a single between 1st and second.  Cairo was waved around 3rd as a hard charging Jermaine Dye picked up the ball and threw a one hopper to the plate that Hernandez caught cleanly and slapped the tag on Cairo for the 2nd out.  Next up was "Captain Clutch" himself Derrek Jeter, who lined a double off the wall in left.  Molina, who is not fleet of foot, was moving on the play and since it was two out he was sent home in an effort to win the game.  Terrance Long played the carom perfectly off the wall and relayed the throw to Tejada, who turned and threw a strike to Hernandez to get Molina by about 5 strides.  Seldom do you see the winning run gunned down at the plate twice in the same inning, but that's exactly what happened in the House that Ruth Built.  Oakland seized the momentum in the top of the 11th when Ramon Hernandez hit a 2 run shot down the line in left.  Mercir, who would get the win, got the first 2 batters out before Izzy was brought on to face A-rod.  On a 1-1 count A-rod grounded weakly to third as a stunned crowd on 161st and River left the Big Ball Orchard in the Bronx in dismay.