New York Yankees vs. Oakland Athletics: Game, player stats and box scores for September 20

On Friday, the New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics played the opening game of their final regular season series. The Yanks have already clinched the Wild Card spot, while the A's have been eliminated from postseason contention.

The Bronx Bombers had their ace Gerrit Cole on the mound as their starting pitcher, while the Athletics had J.T. Ginn as their starter. However, Juan Soto did not play initially since he was scratched from the lineup due to soreness and swelling.

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Ginn took to a good start, and the Yankees lineup could not score until the top of the fourth inning. Cole gave up one run one run in the fourth inning. Anthony Volpe recorded a base hit and drove in Anthony Rizzo to tie the game at the top of the fifth inning.

Cole pitched through nine innings for the first time this season and surrendered only one run. The Yanks were forced to enter the 10th inning, but they brought in Juan Soto, who immediately helped the team score. In no time, the Yanks recorded three runs at the top of the 10th inning.

New York Yankees vs. Oakland Athletics player stats

	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Yankees 90-64	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	4	8	0
Athletics 67-87	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	0

New York Yankees' player stats

HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	FPTS
G. Torres 2B	5	0	1	0	0	2	1	.250	.325	.367	.692	0.0
A. Wells C	5	0	0	0	0	1	2	.240	.327	.413	.740	-0.5
A. Judge RF	3	0	0	0	1	1	0	.319	.454	.683	1.137	0.5
J. Chisholm 3B	3	0	0	0	1	1	1	.259	.328	.441	.769	0.5
G. Stanton DH	3	0	1	0	0	2	0	.232	.293	.468	.761	0.0
J. Dominguez PR-DH	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	.188	.297	.313	.610	0.5
A. Rizzo 1B	3	1	1	0	1	0	1	.220	.287	.329	.617	3.0
O. Cabrera PR-1B	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	.251	.299	.369	.668	1.0
T. Grisham CF	3	0	1	0	0	1	0	.188	.293	.376	.669	0.5
a- J. Soto PH	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	.288	.419	.577	.997	3.0
J. Berti PR-LF	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	.268	.317	.321	.638	1.0
A. Volpe SS	4	0	3	2	0	0	0	.248	.295	.369	.665	5.0
A. Verdugo LF-CF	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	.233	.293	.354	.647	0.0
Total	34	4	8	3	3	9	9	-	-	-	-	-

PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP	FPTS
G. Cole (W, 7-5)	9.0	2	1	1	1	7	3.67	1.18	36.5
L. Weaver (S, 3)	1.0	1	1	0	0	3	2.99	0.95	10.5
Total	10.0	3	2	1	1	10	-	-	-

Oakland Athletics' player stats

HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	FPTS
L. Butler RF	4	1	1	0	0	2	0	.268	.323	.510	.833	3.0
B. Rooker DH	4	1	0	0	0	2	1	.302	.373	.580	.953	0.0
J. Bleday CF	3	0	1	1	1	0	1	.246	.329	.450	.779	3.0
S. Langeliers C	4	0	1	1	0	3	2	.220	.281	.445	.726	0.5
S. Brown LF	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.236	.290	.391	.681	-0.5
Z. Gelof 2B	4	0	0	0	0	2	1	.214	.275	.374	.649	-1.0
T. Soderstrom 1B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.220	.299	.402	.701	0.0
J. Wilson SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.221	.280	.309	.589	0.0
M. Schuemann 3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.219	.308	.307	.615	0.0
Total	32	2	3	2	1	10	8	-	-	-	-	-

PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP	FPTS
J. Ginn	5.0	4	1	1	1	4	4.40	1.33	11.0
M. Otanez	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	3.27	1.33	2.5
S. Alexander	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	2.29	1.13	2.5
T. Ferguson	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	3.72	1.10	3.5
M. Miller	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	2.34	0.86	2.5
T. McFarland (L, 2-4)	0.1	3	3	2	0	0	4.00	1.28	-9.0
G. Holman	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	4.85	2.00	2.5
Total	10.0	8	4	3	3	9	-	-	-

While there were no home runs hit between both teams, the Yanks had several base hits that helped them get on board. Luke Weaver came in to save the game at the bottom of the 10th inning.

Weaver surrendered one run to the A's while they cut the lead in half to 4-2. Weaver worked his way to retire the A's and save the game. However, Cole's spectacular performance helped the team win.

Soto's base hit was a lifesaver as the Yanks got back in the race. The A's were not a match for their opponent as the bullpen struggled. The Bronx Bombers are just a few games away from clinching the AL East Division title. The Baltimore Orioles are 3.5 games behind the Yanks in the race.

The O's will need to face the Yankees in their next series, which is crucial for the division title. Jason Dominguez has also been one of the bright spots since his return.

About the author

Cresswell McCoy is a baseball journalist at Sportskeeda having almost 7 years of prior experience in content development. He holds and Master’s degree in Media and Communication Studies, and his baseball journey began when he joined an MLB betting site as a writer.

Cresswell supports the Philadelphia Phillies because of their top-notch roster and the entertainment they provide, and also admires the New Your Yankees because of their legacy in the sport. His favorite players are Bryce Harper, Gerrit Cole, Giancarlo Stanton and Brandon Marsh, while his favorite coach is Aaron Boone.

Some of his favorite baseball moments in recent times include Giancarlo Stanton's walk-off grand slam against the Pirates in 2022, Aaron Judge's iconic 62nd home run and the time Juan Soto provoked Miles Mikolas with his shuffle.

Cresswell's strengths lie in deeply analyzing playing styles of individual players, analyzing teams’ defensive strategies and batting approaches. He ensures accuracy in his articles by sourcing information only from official MLB handles and reliable insiders.

In his spare time, Cresswell is into heavy metal music and plays the guitar, and also enjoys hiking, camping in the woods and honing his survival skills.

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Edited by Veer Badani