Martin's heroics lift Yankees

NEW YORK — Sean Doolittle had a pretty long list of people he felt he let down.

Let's call it a day: New York's Russell Martin heads for home after hitting a walk-off solo home run to give the Yankees a 2-1 victory over the A's on Friday. AP

Doolittle gave up a home run to Russell Martin an inning after teammate Brandon Moss connected to tie it in the ninth on Friday night, and the Oakland Athletics dropped a game back for the top AL wild-card spot with a 2-1 series-opening loss to the New York Yankees.

"It's really frustrating," Doolittle said. "(Jarrod Parker) did such an unbelievable job going toe-to-toe with Sabathia. Moss hits the pinch-hit home run to tie the game up. Our guys scrapping the whole night and then to lose it like that, it's really, really tough."

Their third loss in four games on a difficult road trip that began in Detroit and ends in Texas next week sent the A's into the second wild-card spot, behind Baltimore. Winners of six in a row, the Yankees remained a game ahead of the Orioles in the AL East.

Moss, a pinch hitter, crushed a towering home run to right field with one out in the ninth off Rafael Soriano to spoil a dominant three-hit outing for CC Sabathia to tie it 1-1, stunning the boisterous crowd of 40,759 into silence.

Parker was in line for a loss despite matching Sabathia for eight innings. He gave up six hits and struck out seven in his first start at Yankee Stadium.

Sabathia held the A's to three hits over eight innings and struck out 11.

"I'll tell you what, it was a well-played game," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. "We played great and so did they. Both starters were terrific. It's too bad."

Curtis Granderson had a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning off Parker and Ichiro Suzuki continued his torrid pace with two more hits — one getting caught in Parker's jersey.

The Yankees lost four straight one-run games in Oakland in mid-July that began a summer swoon in which they blew a 10-game division lead. Martin's second walk-off homer this season gave the Yankees their 11th win in 15 games.

"You can feel that playoff weather coming," Martin said. "I like it. I enjoy it."

David Robertson (2-7) pitched a perfect 10th for the victory. Doolittle (1-1) pitched the ninth, too.

Any questions about Parker being nervous in his first start in the Bronx were dismissed right away with an eight-pitch inning. He didn't give up a hit until he lost Ichiro's bouncer back to the mound with one out in the third inning in his jersey. Parker grimaced in frustration as he failed to pull the ball out of his green and gold top.

The hit was Ichiro's 10th in his last 13 at-bats. He also had a hit in the sixth but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a double.

Sabathia's performance had become one of the biggest question marks in the Yankees rotation the past several weeks. The big lefty was 0-3 in his last four starts and he gave up leads in each outing. After two stints on the disabled list, his velocity was down but he insisted he was OK. Manager Joe Girardi said Sabathia was struggling with the command of his sinker and changeup.

He quickly put that to rest by striking out the side in the first with three breaking pitches.

After a walk to Gomes with one out in the first, Sabathia retired 14 in a row before Stephen Drew singled leading off the sixth.

Orioles 4, Red Sox 2

In Boston, Matt Wieters drove in three runs, Miguel Gonzalez pitched 6? solid innings and the Orioles defeated the hosts.

Jon Lester (9-13) lost for the first time in his 21 career starts against Baltimore. He had been 14-0, the longest winning streak against the Orioles franchise for a pitcher at the start of his career since at least 1901. It had been the longest current winning streak by an active pitcher against any team.

Rays 12, Blue Jays 1

In St. Petersburg, Florida, James Shields pitched seven shutout innings and Tampa Bay's suddenly potent offense scored runs in bunches to help the Rays continue an uphill battle to remain in playoff contention.

Royals 6, Indians 3

In Kansas City, Luis Mendoza pitched into the seventh in his first start since a bout of flu, leading the Royals to the victory.

Cleveland has lost 40 of 52 games since July 26 when it was 50-49.

Angels 6, White Sox 2

In Anaheim, Ervin Santana struck out 11 while pitching seven innings of two-hit ball and Los Angeles gained ground in the playoff race.

Mariners 6, Rangers 3

In Seattle, Miguel Olivo hit a two-run homer in the eighth to help the Mariners stop a four-game slide.

Seattle starter Hisashi Iwakuma (7-5) allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings. Tom Wilhelmsen worked the ninth for his 28th save in 32 chances.

Twins at Tigers — ppd.

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