Gerrit Cole and Juan Soto lead the Yankees past the Athletics 4-2 in 10 innings

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Gerrit Cole tuned up for the postseason by holding the Athletics to one run in nine innings and Juan Soto came off the bench to hit an RBI double in the 10th, giving the New York Yankees a 4-2 win on Friday night in the opener of the final scheduled homestand ever in Oakland.

“That’s the Cy Young,” Soto said. “That was the Cy Young going out there. I never doubted his ability and how great he is. It’s just great to see him doing that.”

Cole (7-5) was sharp after getting hit hard last Saturday in a loss to Boston, allowing two hits and one walk. He struck out seven and needed just 99 pitches to get past the sixth inning for the first time since shutting out Toronto in his final start of 2023.

“I think it was a combination of their aggressiveness and executing good pitches early in the counts,” Cole said. “There were some balls that were hit hard, but they were well located. I tried to funnel the balls to our our defenders.”

Cole got the win thanks in part to a rare pinch-hit appearance from Soto, who was scratched from the starting lineup with a sore left leg after sliding into a wall in Seattle on Thursday.

After a passed ball by Shea Langeliers allowed the go-ahead run to score in the 10th, Soto delivered his big hit off T.J. McFarland (2-4) for a 3-1 lead. Soto is 2 for 10 with four RBIs in 13 career pinch-hit appearances.

“It was great — showman-like,” Cole said. “He loves the moment. He loves it.”

Anthony Volpe, who entered the day in a 5-for-44 slump, added his second RBI single of the game to cap the three-run 10th.

Luke Weaver got three outs for his third save, helping the Yankees maintain their four-game lead over Baltimore in the AL East.

It was a disappointing start to the final stretch of games in Oakland. The A’s have five home games remaining this season before they leave town. They are set to play at least the next three seasons in Sacramento and intend a 2028 move to Las Vegas, where they are trying to build a new stadium.

Attendance for the opener of the series was 23,426, pushing the A’s season average over the 10,000 mark for the first time since opening night.

Both starters faced the minimum batters through 3 1/2 innings with Cole retiring his first nine batters and and Oakland turning double plays after both early hits allowed by J.T. Ginn.

The teams then traded runs with the A’s taking the lead on Langeliers’ RBI single in the fourth and Volpe tying it with his run-scoring single in the fifth.

“It was a good baseball game,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “When you get to extra innings anything can happen. Overall, I thought we played good. We couldn’t get anything going against Cole. We’re not the first team to not get anything going against Cole.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: RHP Cody Poteet was reinstated from the 60-day DL and optioned to Triple-A. … RHP Ron Marinaccio was designated for assignment.

Athletics: RHP Ross Stripling (back) will throw a bullpen session on Saturday, face hitters on Tuesday and could pitch in the final weekend of the season in Seattle if all goes well.”

UP NEXT

LHP Carlos Rodon (15-9, 4.12 ERA) starts the middle game of the series for the Yankees against LHP JP Sears (11-11, 4.24).

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