NEW YORK _ The A's had to turn to Sean Manaea with the knowledge that Kendall Graveman was unavailable to pitch and likely headed for the disabled list.
Manaea responded with a masterful showing in his first career performance in Yankee Stadium. The 25-year-old left-hander issued a leadoff walk to start the game, then settled in for some of the best innings of his career in what turned out to be a 4-1 win over the Yankees.
Through seven innings he allowed four hits, giving up a one-out double in the third, two-out singles in the fourth and sixth and a one-out single in the seventh. It gave the A's just their third win in 10 May road games while getting Oakland to 22-25 overall.
That last hit had the potential to get Manaea in trouble when it was coupled with a catchers' interference call against Stephen Vogt. But that error was quickly remedied when third baseman Trevor Plouffe initiated an inning-ending double play.
Manaea wound up with eight strikeouts and helped himself by picking off Aaron Judge at first base to end the fourth inning.
The game was a meeting between a Yankees team that leads the American League in home runs with 69 and an A's team that had hit 68, tied with the Astros for second. The pitching was such, however, that neither team came close to hitting one out, or scoring at all. Neither team put a man past second base in the first six innings.
It wasn't until Oakland forced Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka out of the game after he'd struck out 13 that the A's got some offense generated.
Adam Rosales singled to force Tanaka's departure, then took third when reliever Tyler Clippard's pickoff try was wide at first base for an error. Rajai Davis' grounder to third cut Rosales down at the plate, but the inning was extended by Matt Joyce working Clippard for a walk.
Jed Lowrie, who had a streak of hits in seven consecutive at-bats end when he grounded out in the sixth inning, stepped in a stroked a first-pitch grounder to right for a single and the first run. A second run came moments later on a Khris Davis single to deep short. The play at first was reviewed, but it stood.
Vogt, denied a homer in his previous at-bat when his blast carried to the center-field wall, got the homer he'd missed with a shot to right that doubled Oakland's lead.
The Yankees loaded the bases in the ninth inning with one out against Santiago Casilla, who would give up a run-scoring fly ball to Didi Gregorius before finishing up.
For seven innings, Oakland didn't do much against Tanaka, who struck out a career-best 13 in his 71/3 innings.
Lowrie extended his stretch of hits in consecutive at-bats to seven with a double in the first and a single in the fourth, but until Khris Davis also singled in the fourth, the rest of the A's lineup was 0-for-10 with eight strikeouts.
The back-to-back hits by Lowrie and Davis gave the A's some hope, but Ryon Healy flew out and Plouffe flew out. Mark Canha doubled with one out in the fifth, but once again Oakland's offense couldn't advance the runner.
