Yankees fail to cash in against Athletics, Sonny Gray

The New York Yankees dropped their series opener to the Oakland Athletics 4-3 in 10 innings after scoring two runs against Sonny Gray in the first inning. Some random thoughts about the game with notable news of the day mixed in.

• The Yankees missed their opportunities when Gray was showing rust early on. Gray settled in, the offense stalled and the Yanks ultimately lost.
• Any chance Nathan Eovaldi will consistently be able to pitch through the six inning (he’s only done it 10-of-18 times this season)?

Nathan Eovaldi
Photo credit: Arturo Pardavilla III via Flickr

• Any chance Joe Girardi will ever allow him to? Based on his press conference after the game, it won't be anytime soon.
• Alex Rodriguez has deserving All-Star numbers, but so do Nelson Cruz and Prince Fielder. No snub here.
• Brett Gardner’s approach to the final vote is admirable. He’ll forgo the campaigning ala Nick Swisher and let his play do the talking ala Derek Jeter.
• Chasen Shreve allowed his first home run since May 22. He's been incredible. Chalk it up to a bad pitch hit out by a good hitter.
• If Stephen Drew is not going to hit at all, he’s going to need to do EVERYTHING else perfectly. Otherwise, what’s the point? His base-running gaffe might have cost the Yankees a run.
• The Yankees will be keeping a close eye on Ben Zobrist in this series. He might be viewed as an upgrade over Drew if the club decides to part ways with the struggling second baseman.
• Is Dellin Betances is showing some kinks in the armor? Two games, two home runs. He’d gone 54 games since his last one before Saturday's game-tying homer. Bring out the questions about usage.
• Brian McCann continues to drive in runs; 90 RBIs within reach.
• Adam Warren looks like he has settled right back into bullpen role with two strikeouts in his appearance Tuesday night.
• The Yanks get Jacoby Ellsbury and Andrew Miller back for Wednesday’s game. It’s like two trades happening without losing anything. The Yankees performed well for the most part without their best athlete and their closer, so one would expect a boost with them back in the mix.
• The Yankees send CC Sabathia to the hill Wednesday to try and avert a three-game losing streak. Bad skids are something the Yankees will need to avoid going forward. Sabathia will be pitching after being pushed back in the rotation. He last pitched on June 29 and owns a 4.37 ERA when rested for six-plus days.
• The Yankees remain 1.5 games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles, but the Boston Red Sox won. The last place team in the division is now just five games back. I wrote this about the conjested and wide-open AL East for SNY today.

Christopher Carelli is a freelance baseball writer. Besides his work here, Christopher is a featured Yankees writer for SNY.tv. His baseball commentary has also been published on Yahoo Sports and linked multiple times on MLB Trade Rumors’ Baseball Blogs Weigh In. He is a member of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, the Baseball Bloggers Alliance and the BYB Hub.