The last time Stephen Piscotty reached base at Yankee Stadium, the Athletics were playing in the 2018 AL Wild Card Game with a powerful lineup hungry for a World Series title.
Things look a bit different now, as Piscotty, Jed Lowrie and Ramón Laureano are the only three starters from that game left on Oakland’s roster in 2022. But the results of Wednesday’s matchup with the Yankees looked similar to that loss nearly four years ago as the A’s were swept after a 5-3 loss in New York.
“Yeah, I remember that game vividly,” Piscotty said of the A’s 2018 wild card appearance while talking to reporters after Wednesday’s game. “Obviously it didn’t go our way, but any time you’re in that kind of environment it sticks with you.”
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The environment on Wednesday wasn’t quite the same, but Piscotty reached base once again in the Bronx during the A’s loss -- his first hit since returning from the IL on Tuesday after missing 47 games with a calf strain, and a big one at that. His first-inning double scored two and gave Oakland an early lead, but it was eventually squandered despite the A’s outhitting the Yankees 9-6.
Things didn’t go their way on Wednesday -- just like all those years ago -- but Piscotty felt good thanks to his “aggressive” approach at the plate, he said, that saw him finish 2-for-4.
A’s manager Mark Kotsay liked what he saw from Piscotty, who played in the outfield Wednesday after going 0-for-3 from the DH spot on Tuesday.
Oakland Athletics
“In his last two nights, his at-bats have looked good,” Kotsay told reporters after the game. “He’s a professional hitter, he’s got a track record and any type of success is great for any hitter, regardless of the time they’ve been off or what they’re going through offensively.
“Good to see Stephen swinging the bat well.”
Should his success at the plate continue, Piscotty’s return could provide a much-needed jolt to a struggling A’s lineup that left 23 runners on base Wednesday. He was able to score after his double thanks to an Elvis Andrus single, but that was all the offense Oakland would see on the day.
Yankees righty James Taillon improved to 9-1 on the season and cruised through the next four innings after the A’s outburst in the first, striking out six and walking two.
“He’s a good pitcher,” Piscotty said of Taillon. “He knows how to get out of those jams … Half the battle is getting those guys on, which we did. Getting them in is the next thing.”
The Yankees didn’t do too much at the plate either, aside from two huge swings by Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton off A’s starter Cole Irvin (2-6), who gave up five runs on six hits but still was able to make it through seven innings.
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Irvin really only made one mistake: a sinker in the first that hung up over the middle of the plate to Judge, which he promptly sent over the wall for a two-run home run. In the third inning, Stanton somehow blasted a changeup just outside of the strike zone into the right field seats using nothing but pure power to give the Yankees the lead.
But Irvin settled in after Stanton’s three-run homer and kept a potent Yankees lineup calm for four more innings -- a sign of the fight that has been the A’s mantra all season long.
“This team fights,” Piscotty reminded reporters after the game. “We always have, and we’ll continue to.”