Bronx, NY – Eduardo Nunez hit a grounder to first that was bobbled with the bases loaded in the 14th inning to give the New York Yankees a 10-9 win over the Oakland Athletics in the second game of three.
Eric Chavez singled to start the inning off of Tyson Ross (2-10) and was replaced on base by Melky Mesa, who was making his MLB debut. A sacrifice bunt by Derek Jeter moved the runner into scoring position and Ichiro Suzuki was then intentionally walked. Alex Rodriguez followed with a single to center that should have drove in the winner, but Mesa missed third as he rounded the bag and had to go back.
Robinson Cano then hit a grounder to the right of the mound that Ross bobbled, but he recovered and fired home for the second out. Nunez followed with a sharp grounder to first and Brandon Moss bobbled the ball, allowing Suzuki to score the winning run.
New York stayed a game ahead of Baltimore for first place in the AL East. The Orioles defeated the Red Sox in 12 innings earlier on Saturday.
Oakland saw its lead for the final wild card spot in the AL fall to three games ahead of the Angels, who are playing the White Sox later on Saturday.
Cory Wade (1-1) got the win for pitching a 1-2-3 top of the 14th inning for the Yankees, who have won a season-high seven consecutive games at home.
Suzuki, Rodriguez and Raul Ibanez each had three hits, with Ibanez smacking a two-run homer in the 13th to tie the game after Oakland had scored four runs in the top of the inning.
"We find ways to get back up when we go through some tough things and that's what they did again today," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
Stephen Drew went 4-for-8 with a solo home run and three runs scored, while Moss added three hits for the Athletics, who have dropped five of their last six games.
"It's crushing, but at the same time we just got to move on," Ross said.
Drew started the game with a double to left-center field. Seth Smith and Yoenis Cespedes followed with consecutive RBI doubles to left to give Oakland a 2-0 lead.
The Yankees got to Oakland starter Travis Blackley in the bottom half. Suzuki hit a one-out homer to right. Rodriguez walked, moved to second on a balk and raced home on Cano's single to left. The bases were loaded after Nick Swisher walked and Jayson Nix reached first on third baseman Josh Donaldson's fielding error. Andruw Jones worked a walk to force in a run, making it 3-2.
New York tacked on another run in the second. Suzuki singled with one out but was thrown out at third on Rodriguez's base hit. Cano reached base on second baseman Cliff Pennington's fielding error to put men on the corners. Rodriguez scored on a wild pitch to give New York a 4-2 edge.
The A's scored one run in the third and fourth to tie the game. Drew led off the third with a homer to center. Oakland loaded the bases later in the inning, but Josh Reddick grounded into a double play.
In the fourth, Donaldson was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on George Kottaras' single and scored on Pennington's single to center.
Pinch-hitter Ibanez's homer to right in the fifth gave the Yankees a 5-4 lead.
But the A's tied the contest in the seventh after Cespedes walked, moved to third on Moss' single and scored on Chris Carter's sacrifice fly.
New York left runners on second and third in the bottom half.
Oakland wasted a golden scoring opportunity of its own in the eighth. With the bases loaded and two outs, Cespedes flied out.
The A's loaded the bases in the 11th with two outs, but came away empty as Reddick's line drive shot was snagged on a diving stop by Steve Pearce at first to end the inning.
Ibanez hustled out a double with one out in the Yankees' 12th and later moved to third on a wild pitch. Russell Martin then hit a grounder to second and Pennington came home with the ball. Derek Norris made the catch and hung on to the ball as Ibanez collided with him for the second out. A pair of walks loaded the bases, but Jeter flied out to end the frame.
Drew singled to start the 13th and Jonny Gomes followed by clubbing a 1-0 pitch deep into the left-field seats. Cespedes followed with a shot close to the same spot in left for his 20th homer of the season. Carter later hit a home run to left off Justin Thomas for a 9-5 lead.
The Yanks didn't give up, though, and put their first three men on base to start the bottom of the 13th. Pat Neshek then took over for Pedro Figueroa, and immediately threw a wild pitch that scored a run. After Nunez's sacrifice fly made it a two-run game, Ibanez drilled a 3-1 pitch deep into the right- field seats to tie the game.
Game Notes
Blackley allowed four runs -- two earned -- on four hits over two innings. New York starter Ivan Nova gave up three runs on five hits over 2 1/3 innings ... New York now leads the season series, 5-4 ... Jeter went just 1-for-7 in the game, but did extend his hit streak to 16 games ... The teams combined to use 47 players in the contest ... The last three games between these clubs have gone to extra innings.
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