Phelps, Yankees Pound A's 7-0 For 4th Straight Win
OAKLAND (CBS/AP) -- David Phelps pitched two-hit ball into the seventh inning and two relievers were perfect the rest of the way, leading the New York Yankees past the Oakland Athletics 7-0 on Friday night for their fourth straight victory.
Phelps (2-4) didn't allow a hit until Derek Norris' soft single over the head of third baseman Kelly Johnson with one out in the fifth. Phelps struck out four and walked three in 6 2-3 innings.
Dellin Betances recorded four straight outs, and Jose Ramirez pitched a perfect ninth for New York.
Jacoby Ellsbury, Mark Teixeira and Brett Gardner each drove in a run as the Yankees built a 3-0 lead against Sonny Gray (6-3) in the first two innings. New York scored four more in the eighth off Jeff Francis.
Gray (6-3) gave up three runs and seven hits in six innings, striking out seven and walking one. Six different Yankees drove in a run, and New York had 12 hits in all.
Coming off a three-game sweep at Seattle, the Yankees kept rolling on the road against the AL West. New York is 5-2 on its nine-game trip and is assured of heading home with a winning mark.
The Yankees pounded an A's team that began Friday leading the majors in run differential by more than double any other team. Oakland had outscored opponents by 130 runs; the next closest club was San Francisco at 59.
Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to 17 games with an RBI single during a two-run first inning. Brett Gardner added an RBI single in the third before Gray found his groove.
Oakland's young ace retired 13 straight batters, but his teammates never could fluster Phelps - or New York's bullpen.
The Yankees had lost all five of Phelps' road starts this season, including his last outing at Kansas City, where he allowed seven runs in 5 2-3 innings.
Phelps pitched a gem in Oakland, a place the Yankees had lost seven in a row. He also snapped a career-high, four-game skid in front of an announced crowd of 36,067 - the fifth sellout in Oakland this season - that had the usual strong sprinkling of Yankees fans to make Phelps feel at home.
Ichiro Suzuki drove in two runs, and Brian McCann and Johnson each hit RBI singles to put the Yankees up 7-0 in the eighth.
NOTES: The A's showed a video tribute of Bob Welch and held a moment of silence the former A's pitcher and 1990 AL Cy Young Award winner. Welch died Monday at 57 of undisclosed causes. ... Yankees manager Joe Girardi said RHP Michael Pineda, who went on the disabled list May 6 with a shoulder strain, is unlikely to return until August. ... Oakland RF Josh Reddick ran on the field for the first time since going on the disabled list June 3 with a hypextended right knee. He also hit in the batting cage. ... Scott Kazmir (7-2, 2.20 ERA) starts for Oakland opposite New York's Hideki Kuroda (4-4, 4.12) on Saturday.
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