NEW YORK _ Ever since closer Aroldis Chapman went to the disabled list two weeks ago, getting the ball to Dellin Betances had not been an easy chore for the Yankees.
Relievers Adam Warren, Chasen Shreve and Tyler Clippard, mostly effective this season, each have had a hiccup or two in that stretch.
And so some nervous energy pulsated throughout Yankee Stadium, and maybe even the home dugout, Saturday afternoon when Joe Girardi pulled CC Sabathia with one out in the seventh, a man on second and the Yankees leading by a run.
On this day Warren did his job but for the second straight game Clippard did not.
Betances, however, continued his run of dominance this season regardless of role.
Saturday he recorded the final five outs of a 3-2 victory over the A's at the Stadium, ending the eighth with consecutive strikeouts then pitching a perfect ninth for his fifth save.
The Yankees (28-18), who managed all of two hits, inched 2{ games ahead of the Red Sox, whose game against the Mariners started later Saturday afternoon, in the AL East.
Sabathia was terrific a third straight outing, allowing two runs and six hits over 61/3 innings. He took a 3-1 lead into the seventh, courtesy of Matt Holliday's two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth off A's right-hander Jharel Cotton.
But after Josh Phegley homered with one out to make it 3-2 and Adam Rosales doubled, Girardi called on Warren. The right-hander, who had allowed seven earned runs in his previous 51/3 innings coming in, got pinch hitter Matt Joyce to ground out and ended the inning by striking out Mark Canha to end an eight-pitch at-bat.
Clippard, who allowed a run, two hits and a walk in two-thirds of an innings Friday, struck out Jed Lowrie looking to start the eighth (Lowrie was ejected by plate umpire Will Little, whose strike zone was, to put it generously, inconsistent).
Clippard walked Khris Davis and allowed a double to Ryan Healy, necessitating, for Girardi, the call to Betances.
Betances, who had pitched all of one inning the previous four days, struck out Trevor Plouffe looking at an offspeed pitch that was borderline _ A's manager Bob Melvin was ejected _ then struck out Chad Pinder on a ball in the dirt to end the threat.
Cotton, a 25-year-old right-hander, was recalled from Triple-A Nashville earlier in the day to make the start. Cotton, 3-4 with a 5.68 ERA in his first stint this season with the A's, held the Yankees without a hit until Holliday's two-out homer in the sixth. Gary Sanchez preceded the homer, Holliday's ninth, with a walk.
The Yankees scored a run in the first without a hit as Sanchez walked with one out and Holliday was hit by a pitch. A wild pitch moved the runners and Starlin Castro's sacrifice fly made it 1-0.
The A's (22-26) tied it in the sixth. Davis walked with two outs and Healy followed by yanking a 0-and-2 fastball past a diving Ronald Torreyes and into the left-field corner for a double. Davis chugged around from first, sliding in safely at the plate as Didi Gregorius' relay throw came in high and wide. Aaron Judge then saved the day for Sabathia as Plouffe lifted a pop up behind second. Castro charged back and had the ball pop out of his glove. Judge, however, caught the rebound for the third out.
