Left-handed starter\u00a0JP Sears\u00a0allowed just two hits over 5 2\/3 innings to fuel the\u00a0Athletics\u2019 7-0 win\u00a0over All-Star slugger Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I came with a good game plan today, winning behind the plate,\u201d Sears told reporters postgame. \u201cI felt I was able to execute my fastball in and away and execute the sweeper good away — keeping the hitters off balance.\u201d<\/p>\n Sears earned four strikeouts to three walks and went to his four-seam fastball and sweeper for 71 of his 90 pitches (79 percent). Sears now holds a 6-7 record and 5.09 ERA on the 2025 MLB season, and the A\u2019s improved to 34-51.<\/p>\n It was the 29-year-old Sears\u2019 first-career win against the Yankees, the franchise where he started his major-league career before being traded to the A\u2019s in 2022. He entered 0-4 over six games against the reigning AL champions.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a big start for JP, to be able to bounce back, to hopefully get some momentum going,\u201d A\u2019s manager Mark Kotsay said about Sears, who entered also having allowed 10 earned runs over three consecutive losses. \u201cIt was one that he needed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think so,\u201d Kotsay added when asked if Sears pitched with extra motivation. \u201cHe\u2019s pitched against the Yankees before. This was a start where he knew he had to be good today, and he met that challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n Find the latest Athletics news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Earning his first-career save in his second-career outing, right-handed reliever Jack Perkins finished the job with a one-hit 3 1\/3 frames, allowing Kotsay to use just two arms. Perkins allowed one hit in three innings against the Cleveland Guardians in his big-league debut last Sunday.<\/p>\n The A\u2019s offense equally was in full force, as the entire lineup — except right-fielder Lawrence Butler — finished with exactly one hit.<\/p>\n Designated hitter Brent Rooker sent a centered sweeper from Yankees right-handed starter Clarke Schmidt 403 feet to left center to give the Green and Gold a 1-0 lead and all it needed to win in the fourth.<\/p>\n And A\u2019s top prospect and rookie first baseman Nick Kurtz added three RBI with a 356-foot three-run shot off Schmidt in the sixth, and now is up to 18 hits and 16 RBI since returning from the 10-day injured list (strained left hip flexor) on June 9.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, we\u2019re hoping so,\u201d Rooker said about using Saturday to build momentum on \u201cA\u2019s Cast\u201d with NBC Sports Bay Area\u2019s Jenny Cavnar and Dallas Braden. \u201cWe know and we\u2019re confident in the damage we can do one through nine. All it takes is one game like that to get things rolling and go on a little run here.\u201d<\/p>\n The A\u2019s still have a ways to go to climb back into the AL playoff race. But Saturday\u2019s all-around dominance could serve as a blueprint for what the Green and Gold\u2019s potential can be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" JP Sears allowed just two hits to fuel the Athletics\u2019 7-0 win over Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":64800,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2344,2345,2346],"class_list":["post-64799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-brent-rooker","tag-jp-sears","tag-nick-kurtz"],"yoast_head":"\nAthletics<\/h3>\n