Bronx, NY (Sports Network) – Sometimes a long overdue victory is made sweeter when said triumph involves a fair amount of grit, sweat and determination.
On Saturday, sweltering conditions produced the perspiration and the Oakland A’s provided the rest in a 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees.
Josh Willingham belted a two-run homer and Hideki Matsui added a solo shot against his former team, as the A’s halted an historic 11-game skid against the Bronx denizens.
Rich Harden (2-1) allowed two runs on five hits and four walks while striking out six over 5 2/3 innings and the Oakland bullpen worked around several late- inning jams to close the door
New York pushed a run across in the ninth on a Mark Teixeira sacrifice fly, but, with Derek Jeter on third, Andrew Bailey induced Robinson Cano into a groundout to record his 11th save of the season.
A.J. Burnett (8-8) worked 5 2/3 frames, but surrendered three runs on six hits and three walks while striking out six.
The Yankees, who scored a season-high 17 runs in Friday’s series opener, received a homer from Nick Swisher — his second in as many days — and an RBI single from Russell Martin. Jeter went 3-for-4.