OAKLAND, Calif. _ The A's are hot. Not as hot as the 90-degree temperature that greeted first pitch, but hot enough to sweep the New York Yankees in a four-game series capped off by a 4-3 win Sunday.
Led by 6 1/3 strong innings from starter Jharel Cotton and the 18th homer off the bat of left fielder Khris Davis, the A's pulled off their first series sweep of the year.
Oakland had gone 26 series without a sweep of any size, and to cut down the Yankees, the team with the second-best record in the American League, is more than a little impressive for a team that has the worst record in the AL at 31-38.
The sweep is part of a bigger picture in which the A's have played reasonably well at home and appallingly poorly on the road. Oakland is now 22-13 at home and 9-25 away from the Coliseum.
Cotton, in quest of ending a streak of five consecutive starts without a win, created an early hole for himself when Matt Holliday homered in the second inning and Aaron Judge singled home a run in the third.
Yankees starter Luis Cessa got off to a better start, holding Oakland to just one base runner in the first two innings. Beginning with Josh Phegley's one-out single in the third, the game changed.
Suddenly streaking Matt Joyce doubled to put two in scoring position and rookie shortstop Chad Pinder tied the game with a two run double.
With two out, Davis stepped in having hit just one homer in the last 18 games. On a 2-1 pitch from Cessa, that skid ended, Davis crushing a ball out to left-center as Oakland took a 4-2 lead.
Cotton was stung by a disputed fourth-inning Didi Gregorius homer. Gregorius' high fly carried directly down the right-field line and was ruled a homer. A's manager Bob Melvin challenged it, but as most A's challenges have gone this year, he needn't have bothered. Gregorius' homer was upheld and the A's are now 4-12 in the 16 times they've challenged a call on the field.
He pitched into the seventh inning, getting the first out before Melvin turned to lefty Daniel Coulombe to finish off. Ryan Madson pitched a scoreless eighth, setting up the ninth.
With Santiago Casilla having been winged by a foul ball Saturday and with Sean Doolittle having closed out Saturday's win with a scoreless inning. Melvin opted to go with the left-handed Doolittle to finish up.
Doolittle had to work around a one-out two-base throwing error by rookie shortstop Pinder, but managed to close it out.
