A's look to continue recent success vs. Yanks

Coming into this week's series, the A's have dominated the Yankees in recent memory, and that knowledge will still be lingering when the teams face off Wednesday, especially after the A's pulled away with an 11th-inning victory in the opener.

Oakland won 13 of the 19 games against New York between 2013 and '15. Despite the wide margin of success, the seven games between the Yankees and A's in 2015 were split about as even as they could be. The A's held a one-game advantage, winning four of the seven games, but barely outscored the Yankees by a 27 to 25 spread.

Flamethrowing starter Nathan Eovaldi will take the mound for the Yankees on Wednesday against Kendall Graveman. Eovaldi is 0-1 with a 6.94 ERA in two starts this season, while Graveman has fared much better with a 2.38 ERA, but he is also 0-1 and has lost six straight, dating back to last season.

Things to know about this game

• Eovaldi's early-season struggles can be traced back to his inability to keep the ball in the park. The power pitcher has allowed four home runs in 11 2/3 innings this season. This is a big reason why, despite his high rate of 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings, his Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) is a less-than-stellar 5.52 in the early going.

• Graveman doesn't have much experience against Yankees hitters in his career, and the results haven't been very positive in his limited exposure. Yankees bats are a lifetime 7-for-18 against Graveman, with catcher Brian McCann seeing the most success, going 3-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs.

• Assuming Eovaldi and Graveman don't throw complete games, expect the bullpen arms to be throwing strikes, and plenty of them. Coming into this series, the A's and Yankees ranked first and second in the AL in bullpen strikeout-to-walk ratio, and the Yankees led the Majors in bullpen strikeouts per nine innings.

Clutch Canha lifts A's past Yankees in 11th

Jed Lowrie tied his career high with four hits and scored the deciding run onMark Canha's 11th-inning, two-out single, helping to lift the Athletics to a 3-2 victory over the Yankees on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. 

Canha's hit came off rookie Johnny Barbato, shooting just past the reach of shortstop Didi Gregorius and driving home Lowrie, who sparked the rally with a one-out double. The victory was credited to Fernando Rodriguez, who hurled two scoreless innings, while Ryan Madson worked the home half of the 11th to pick up his fifth save.

• Didi sparkles on D, laments misses in clutch

"I think tonight it showed that we know we can win in these close games," catcher Stephen Vogt said, "it doesn't matter who's hitting, who's pitching. Canha hasn't had an at-bat in a couple weeks it seems like, and he obviously comes through with one of the biggest hits of the night. It feels like Oakland A's teams of the past, where you just don't know who's gonna beat you on any given night. We like the way we're playing."

Michael Pineda provided a quality start for the Yankees, limiting Oakland to two runs and seven hits over six innings. Marcus Semien and Lowrie each had a run-scoring single off Pineda, who walked one and struck out seven.

Alex Rodriguez knocked a first-inning RBI single and Carlos Beltran lifted a fifth-inning sacrifice fly off A's starter Eric Surkamp, who worked 5 2/3 innings and permitted two runs and seven hits. Facing the Yankees for the first time in his career, Surkamp walked three and struck out three. New York went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, leaving eight on base. 

• High RISP, low reward: Yanks seeking spark

"It's the little stuff to win games; we're not doing that," Gregorius said. "We're lacking that right now. We have to pick it up, try to be better baseball players."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Delivering off the bench: The A's had stranded eight baserunners before Canha came to the plate in the 11th and provided the eventual game-winning hit. Canha didn't come off the bench until the ninth inning for his first at-bat in a week, when he struck out on just three pitches against Yankees closer Andrew Miller. Canha found himself in an 0-2 count yet again in the 11th before he sent a sharp ground ball through the left side of the infield.

"I hit a lot in the cage during the game," Canha said. "I've been working on stuff for the past week for moments like this." More >

Gotcha: Jacoby Ellsbury, out of the lineup against the left-handed starter, came off the bench to pinch-run after Chase Headley opened the ninth with a single. After Gregorius tried twice unsuccessfully to get a bunt down facing Rodriguez, Ellsbury broke for second base but was thrown out by Stephen Vogt. It was the second time that Ellsbury has been nabbed in six attempts this year; the rest of the Yankees are 9-for-11 in steal attempts.

"I'm trying to give us a chance to win the game and get a guy into scoring position," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "I had Ellsbury in there to make sure the bunt doesn't have to be so good to get him over. It just puts a lot of pressure on the pitcher, but we didn't execute that, then Ells got thrown out, then we gave up a two-out hit in the 11th inning. I thought Johnny threw well, but it's unfortunate."

Bullpen brilliance: A's relievers were fantastic yet again, covering 5 1/3 innings without a run allowed. After Marc Rzepczynski picked up Surkamp with the final out of the sixth inning, John Axford and Sean Doolittle faced the minimum over the next two innings, respectively, ahead of Rodriguez's two-inning stint. Madson's quick work in the ninth gave him his fifth save in as many opportunities this season. A's relievers have yielded one run or fewer in 11 of the club's first 14 games.

Firing blanks: The Yanks' bullpen put on another strong showing. Chasen Shreve hurled a perfect seventh, helped by two sharp plays by Gregorius at shortstop, and Dellin Betancesdelivered in the eighth.

Betances surrendered a pair of hits, to Danny Valencia and Lowrie, but struck out two in the inning -- including Khris Davis swinging to strand two men aboard. Miller retired all three men he faced in the ninth, as did Barbato in the 10th.

• 'Special' deliveries: Yankees' bullpen a force

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
The A's improved to 5-3 in one-run games. Last year, the club began the season 1-13 in one-run games and did not win its fifth one-run decision until June 16. The A's finished the 2015 season with a Major League-leading 35 one-run losses.

WHAT'S NEXT
Athletics: Right-hander Kendall Graveman will be on the mound for the A's on Wednesday, when the club takes on the host Yankees in the middle matchup of a three-game series in the Bronx at 4:05 p.m. PT. Despite pitching to a 2.38 ERA in his first two starts, Graveman has a six-game losing streak dating back to last year.

Yankees: Nathan Eovaldi (0-1, 6.94) will make his third start of the season on Wednesday as the Yankees and Athletics continue their three-game series at 7:05 p.m. ET. Eovaldi is coming off a loss to the Blue Jays in which he permitted four runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He is 0-1 with a 5.09 ERA in four career starts vs. Oakland.

Rising stars Salazar, Walker meet in Cleveland

Danny Salazar and Taijuan Walker, two of the American League's harder-throwing young right-handers, square off Wednesday at Progressive Field in the middle game of a three-game set between the Indians and Mariners.

Salazar, 26, enjoyed a breakout 2015 when he went 14-10 with a 3.45 ERA and 195 strikeouts and 53 walks in 185 innings, and he's been even better his first two starts this season with a 2-0 record and a 0.79 ERA.

Walker, 23, throws similar mid-90s heat and also is coming off his first full year as a Major League starter. Walker overcame a slow start in 2015 to post an 11-8 record and a 4.56 ERA with 157 strikeouts and 40 walks in 169 2/3 innings.

Walker has yet to earn a decision in two starts this year, but he has posted a 2.25 ERA. At 6-foot-4, 235 pounds, he possesses the physical tools to be regarded as a potential rising star like Salazar, but manager Scott Servais says these things take time.

"Everybody sees the talent Taijuan brings, the athleticism, the upside," Servais said. "You can dream real big. In the big leagues, it's about performance."

Walker is making his third career start against the Indians, having gone 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA in a pair of outings against them last year. Walker threw eight shutout innings with two hits, no walks and eight strikeouts in a 2-1 win in Seattle in May, then allowed one run on eight hits in six innings in a 9-3 victory at Progressive Field in June.

Salazar took a no-decision in his only previous start against the Mariners, a 6-3 win for the Indians last May at Safeco Field when he gave up three runs on four hits in 5 1/3 frames.

Things to watch in this game

• Indians right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall, who has been on the 15-day disabled list with a left wrist injury, is expected to be activated on Wednesday and could be in the lineup for the first time this season. The Indians must make a corresponding move to open a spot on the 25-man roster.

• Outfielder Franklin Gutierrez, who played the first four seasons of his Major League career with Cleveland from 2005-08, likely will be limited to pinch-hitting duties in this series for Seattle, as he's in a platoon situation in right field and the Tribe has all right-handed starters. But Gutierrez has performed extremely well in part-time duties for the past two seasons -- batting .283 with a .932 OPS and 15 home runs in 191 at-bats -- since spending a year out of baseball dealing with his ankylosing spondylitis condition.

• Kyle Seager and Robinson Cano rank among the top five in batting average among all hitters who've had at least 100 plate appearances against Indians pitching since 2010. Seager came into the series first on that list with a .380 average (46-for-121), while Cano was fifth at .354 (56-for-158).

Patient vs. wild Miley, Indians reward Carrasco

Right-hander Carlos Carrasco worked into the seventh inning and kept the Mariners' bats at bay in a 3-2 victory for the Indians on Tuesday night at Progressive Field.

Carrasco picked up his second win of the season for Cleveland after holding Seattle to one run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings. The big righty struck out five, walked three and allowed only a solo home run to Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager.

"Every start, I just take a little bit from there. I kind of learn a little bit," said Carrasco, who is 2-0 with a 2.79 ERA on the season. "Sometimes you have to make an adjustment. That's what I did. I was trying to make my pitches."

It was a solid enough showing to support the Tribe's work against Seattle left-hander Wade Miley, who represented the seventh southpaw Cleveland has faced in its first 11 games.

Miley exercised solid damage control before losing his command in the fourth inning. Miley issued four walks, including two with the bases loaded, in that decisive frame. The southpaw ended with two strikeouts, and he was charged with three runs on nine hits in 3 2/3 innings.

"I lost it. I don't know what happened," Miley said of his fourth-inning control issues. "I obviously didn't feel good going in, but I was able to make some pitches and got some ground balls early. But in that fourth inning, I just got to thinking -- something I don't do a whole lot -- and got mechanical and really lost it. That game is 100 percent on me. I have to do a better job to minimize right there."

• Facing another lefty, Tribe able to scratch out win

Beyond the run-scoring walks in the fourth -- one each for Rajai Davis and Francisco Lindor -- Mike Napoli contributed an RBI double off Miley. That two-base hit came with two outs in the third, scoring Lindor to give Cleveland an early 1-0 lead.

Indians closer Cody Allen allowed one run in the ninth, but that was as far as Seattle's final push went. Allen sealed the win and notched his fourth save of the year.

"I feel like we've played some pretty good baseball," Allen said of Cleveland's early-season showing. "We've played good baseball against good teams."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Triple double: Miley gave up eight hits in the first three frames, but he limited the damage to just one run by inducing a trio of double-play grounders. The biggest was a 5-4-3 twin killing by Collin Cowgill in a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the second. But Miley also got Napoli on a hard grounder to Seager with runners on first and second to end the first. He then wiped out a leadoff single by Davis in the third when Jason Kipnis drove a shot right up the middle, where shortstop Ketel Marte was standing right behind the bag while playing Kipnis perfectly with the shift.

Walk this way: Miley entered the fourth inning with no walks in 15 innings on the season, but that streak came to a crashing halt. With one out, the Mariners' lefty issued back-to-back free passes to Juan Uribe and Cowgill to load the bases. Miley then walked Davis and Lindor with the bags full to force home a pair of runs. The starter was pulled after throwing 20 balls in a 36-pitch span in the inning.

"It was everything," Miley said. "I wish I could have found a pitch I could throw over the plate. I tried 'em all, they just weren't going. They didn't want any part of it. And I started rushing. I just have to be better. Point blank, I have to be better at the end of the day."

Making progress at Progressive: Seager came in batting .119 and riding an 0-for-17 slump, but the third baseman has a history of hitting in Cleveland. That held true again as he went 2-for-4 and launched a homer in the sixth on a 1-0 changeup from Carrasco. Seager now has four home runs and is hitting .418 (28-for-67) in 17 games at Progressive Field.

"It goes like that sometimes," Seager said. "It's not necessarily like a launching pad. It's a decent-sized park. It's a really nice park. Thankfully I've been able to do that." More >

Feel the glove: Lindor and Napoli each turned in a highlight-reel play in the win for Cleveland. In the fifth, Lindor went into the hole at short to snag a grounder from Norichika Aoki. Lindor made a backhand grab and jumping throw to narrowly beat the runner at first.

In the sixth, Napoli made a diving play to snare a sharply hit grounder from Robinson Cano. The first baseman recovered in time to flip the ball to Carrasco at the bag for an impressive out.

"You don't see that play too often in the hole any more," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "And Nap has been good and continues to be. When you look at him, I'm not sure you realize how good he can move. He's into the game and it's been fun to watch."

CHECKING ON CARRASCO
Twice during Tuesday's win, Francona and an Indians trainer met with Carrasco on the mound. It stemmed from a play in the third inning, when the pitcher ran to cover first base and slightly rolled his ankle upon reaching the bag. After Napoli's diving play in the sixth, Francona thought he noticed Carrasco limping again. After the game, both Francona and Carrasco downplayed the issue.

QUOTABLE
"It's still early and Wade has a lot of track record and I certainly like having him out there and trust him. But he's frustrated right now. He's better than that." -- Mariners manager Scott Servais, after Miley fell to 0-2 with an 8.04 ERA in his first three starts

"That's a tough play, especially with a speedy guy. But, he knew the runner, he knew what he had to do. His exchange was really quick and he made a nice play. He's capable of doing that kind of stuff. It's nice seeing it." --Napoli, on Lindor's play in the fifth

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
The Indians went 4-for-9 with three walks with runners on base against Miley. In his first three games, the new Seattle starter has allowed opponents to hit .467 (14-for-30) with runners on base.

UPON FURTHER REVIEW
In the first inning, Kipnis chopped a pitch up the middle, where Marte gloved the ball and made a quick throw to first for what was initially ruled an out by first-base umpire John Tumpane. Francona challenged the call, which was overturned following a replay review lasting one minute, 39 seconds. Kipnis was awarded an infield single on the play.

WHAT'S NEXT
Mariners: Taijuan Walker (0-0, 2.35 ERA) makes his third start of the season as Seattle continues its three-game series at Progressive Field on Wednesday at 3:10 p.m. PT. The 23-year-old right-hander was 2-0 with one run allowed in 14 innings in two starts against the Indians last year.

Indians: For Game 2 of this three-game set with the Mariners on Wednesday at 6:10 p.m. ET, the Indians will give the ball to right-hander Danny Salazar (2-0, 0.79 ERA). Through two outings this season, Salazar has piled up 16 strikeouts against six walks in 11 1/3 innings. He struck out nine in six shutout innings in a win over the Rays in his last turn.

Aces Sale, Richards to face off in Chicago

White Sox ace Chris Sale has dominated the Angels, especially in his two starts against them at U.S. Cellular Field.

Given the way this four-game series started, the Sox are hoping for another strong outing from Sale when he opposes Angels ace Garrett Richards on Wednesday.

The White Sox 7-0 loss Monday strained the bullpen after starter Carlos Rodon was bounced after only one-third of an inning.

Sale, though, is 2-0 with a 1.10 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings against the Angels at home, including a one-hitter May 12, 2013. This season, Sale is 3-0 with a 2.35 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 23 innings.

Richards enters with an 0-2 mark and 3.57 ERA this season. He will have the benefit of facing a White Sox lineup that entered Tuesday hitting a combined .158 over the team's past three losses.

"You go through three games like this, it can get overblown in a way," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "Guys are fine. You just need to them to do things that are going to help you win the game, and you're going to be all right."

Three things to know about this game

• White Sox hitters have a combined 71 at-bats against Richards. The only player to homer is Jose Abreu, who is 4-for-6 with one home run and four RBIs in his career off the righty.

• Angels sluggers Mike Trout and Albert Pujols are a combined 5-for-28 (.179) against Sale.

• Richards has a 4.29 ERA in eight appearances against the White Sox, including two starts. In those starts, he went 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA (five earned runs in 15 innings).

Latos dominant as White Sox blank Angels

Matt Latos allowed two hits in 6 1 /3 scoreless innings and was supported by home runs from Todd Frazier and Jose Abreu in the 5-0 White Sox victory over the Angels on Tuesday night at U.S. Cellular Field.

Latos improved to 3-0, while his ERA dropped to 0.49. The right-hander, who has yielded six hits in 18 1/3 innings, helped the White Sox end their three-game losing streak.

"Perfect. He did a great job," said White Sox catcher Dioner Navarro of his friend and winning pitcher. "He did exactly what we needed him to do, especially us using the 'pen the way we did. We needed Matty to go long and he did an outstanding job."

• Command, deceptive delivery keys to Latos' success

Frazier, who was mired in a 2-for-23 slump over his last six games, connected on a 3-1 pitch from Angels starter Matt Shoemaker to lead off the second and produce his third long ball. Abreu, who had a 3-for-26 quagmire of his own, drove out the first pitch from Shoemaker in the fourth for home run No. 3.

"I know that all of the effort we have been putting in showed today," said Abreu through interpreter Billy Russo. "Probably today is the start of what we can do on the offense."

Latos held the Angels hitless until one out in the fifth, when Carlos Perez rolled an infield single up the middle. He walked three, struck out five and gave way to Matt Albers after throwing 101 pitches. Shoemaker gave up two runs over 6 1/3 innings, striking out four and walking one.

Albers extended his scoreless innings streak to 30 over 27 appearances. That streak dates back to Aug. 5, 2015. In the eighth, Melky Cabrera added a two-run triple and Brett Lawriedrove him in with a single to give the White Sox some breathing room.

"I don't think he was doing anything special," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of Latos. "He was obviously hitting his spots. We had some chances and he made some pitches to get out of jams. He just pitched a good game for those guys. Outside of the first inning, when we had a couple walks and had a chance, we didn't get too many good looks at him."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Eaton fires a strike: Adam Eaton's throwing arm seems to be back at full strength after offseason shoulder surgery. Andrelton Simmons tried to test that arm on C.J. Cron's single to right with one out in the seventh, but Eaton nailed him at the plate with a perfect throw to Navarro.

"I have to give all the credit to Navvy. He did a heck of a job letting it get deep," Eaton said. "It was a heck of a tag. All the credit goes to him. You can get it there, but definitely catching the ball the way he did and holding on to it with the guy screaming down the line, a lot of credit goes to him and great overall win for the team."

"I messed up by kind of peeking to see if the ball went through," Simmons said. "That split-second might have cost us that run. So that one was on me."

Stargazing: The Angels' two biggest stars, Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, have mostly been held in check early on. The two have combined to bat just .194, notching 20 hits in 103 at-bats. On Tuesday, they each went 0-for-3 with a walk. The Angels' offense is not deep enough to sustain long stretches of ineffectiveness from those two players.

"I know what I'm doing wrong," Trout said. "Last couple of games, I created a bad habit. I'm just jumping forward. My head's moving. When the pitch is coming, it's not letting me recognize the pitch. I just have to stay back, trust my hands. We're working on it." More >

Missed chance: With the bases loaded and one out in the fourth, the White Sox had a chance to pad their lead. But Avisail Garcia -- hitting .156 -- fouled off a hittable 1-0 changeup and eventually popped out to right.

Shoe deals: Aside from the two solo shots, Shoemaker turned in another encouraging start, five days after one-hitting the A's through six innings. The 29-year-old right-hander gave up just four other hits and didn't give up any other runs, putting his ERA at 4.70.

"Obviously I wanted to go out there and win, but [it's a] long season," Shoemaker said. "I felt really good. Executing pitches, mixing it up."

QUOTABLE
"I go out there every fifth day and I think that nobody can touch me. That's the way you've got to look at it." -- Latos

"Everybody wants to do well. They want their average to be up, but he comes to the park to win games first and whatever he can do to help is what he's doing." -- White Sox manager Robin Ventura, on Frazier

SIMMONS STREAKING
Simmons hit a one-out double near the left-field line in the seventh, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games, the longest by any player this season. Simmons, who went 3-for-4 on Monday, is batting .278.

REPLAY REVIEW
Umpires ruled that fan interference caused Cabrera to drop Cliff Pennington's foul popup at the start of the eighth and did not overturn the call via replay, prompting the Angels to lose their challenge and enraging Scioscia. Cabrera appeared to drop the ball on his own.

"I still don't know why they didn't reverse that," Scioscia said. "The ball was dropped before the fan got anywhere near it. There was nothing that blocked his ability to get the ball, didn't block his view. He dropped the ball. I don't even know if he hit the fan's hand or not. He just dropped the ball."

SAVE THAT BASEBALL
The two perfect innings thrown by Nate Jones resulted in his first career save.

WHAT'S NEXT
Angels: Garrett Richards takes the mound Wednesday for the third of a four-game series at U.S. Cellular Field, with first pitch set for 11:10 a.m. PT. Richards has struck out 19 in 17 2/3 innings, getting charged with only seven earned runs. But the hard-throwing right-hander remains winless.

White Sox: On Wednesday at 1:10 p.m. CT, Chris Sale will try to duplicate his complete-game masterpiece thrown in front of numerous friends and family members Friday night against the Rays in St. Petersburg. The lefty struck out nine and didn't issue a walk during his two-hit shutout. Sale one-hit the Angels at home in 2013.

Shoemaker faces unfamiliar ex-teammate in Latos

 Angels righty Matt Shoemaker opposes a former teammate, White Sox righty Mat Latos, in the second of a four-game series from U.S. Cellular Field on Tuesday night -- but he may hardly recognize him.

The Angels signed Latos out of sheer desperation down the stretch last year. The veteran starter had struggled to a 4.95 ERA with the Marlins and Dodgers and was out of action for a couple of weeks when the Angels took a shot in late September, pitching him in only two relief appearances and watching him give up two runs in 3 2/3 innings.

The White Sox have seen a different guy.

Two starts in, Latos has allowed only one run in 12 innings, giving up four hits and two walks while striking out six. He is only the sixth White Sox pitcher since 1913 to win each of his first two starts with an ERA under 1.00.

Shoemaker was shelled in his first start against the Rangers, giving up six runs and recording only nine outs, but cruised through his second start against the A's, twirling six scoreless innings while allowing only one hit.

Things to know about this game

• The White Sox bullpen figures to be shorthanded Tuesday after absorbing 8 2/3 innings because of Carlos Rodon's short start. Jake Petricka (2 2/3 innings), Zach Putnam (three innings) and Dan Jennings (two innings) each pitched multiple innings, which will force the White Sox to call an extra reliever up from the Minor Leagues before Tuesday's game.

• Andrelton Simmons is 5-for-9 with two doubles in his career against Latos, but Yunel Escobar has only three singles in 12 at-bats. In two starts against the White Sox, Shoemaker has given up 11 runs (10 earned) on 18 hits in 10 2/3 innings.

• Albert Pujols enters Tuesday with 562 home runs, one away from tying Reggie Jackson for 13th on the all-time list. Angels closer Huston Street has 318 saves, one away from tying Todd Jones for 18th on the all-time list.