Oakland shuts out lethargic Yankees

Chad Gaudin and Rich
Harden combined on a one-hitter for the A’s.

NEW YORK (AP) — Chad Gaudin combined with Rich Harden on a one-hitter, and the Oakland Athletics connected for three home runs off Kei Igawa in a 7-0 victory over the lethargic New York Yankees Saturday.

Light-hitting Jason Kendall was 3-for-3 with a homer and a walk to lead an Oakland offense that ranks 13th out of 14 AL teams in runs scored.

Shannon Stewart and Dan Johnson also homered for the A’s, who won for only the second time in nine tries and are 5-13 in their last 18 games.

Johnny Damon’s clean single in the sixth was the only hit for the Yankees (37-40), who have dropped eight of 10 after an 11-1 stretch.

New York lost for the second time in its last 11 home games.

Oakland moved to 1-4 in New York during its season-long 10-game road trip — the A’s were swept by the Mets last weekend.

Lone hit

Damon hit a grounder up the middle off Gaudin with one out in the sixth, drawing a long ovation from the sellout crowd of 54,150.

Gaudin (7-3) walked Bobby Abreu with two outs, but came back from a 3-0 count to strike out Alex Rodriguez and keep the score 4-0.

Igawa was pulled in the seventh, but New York manager Joe Torre doesn’t have many answers in his bullpen.

The A’s broke it open on Nick Swisher’s two-out, two-run double off Scott Proctor and Eric Chavez’s RBI double against lefty Mike Myers.

Both Yankees relievers were booed as they trudged off the mound.

Gaudin walked three and struck out four in seven innings, winning for the first time in five outings since beating Minnesota 4-2 on June 3. He was 0-2 with a 6.35 ERA in his previous three starts.

Harden finished up with two hitless innings, walking two and striking out two.

After spending nine weeks on the disabled list, the right-hander is working out of the bullpen as he builds up arm strength for a return to the rotation.

Rare feat

It was Oakland’s first one-hitter since April 8, 2006, at Seattle. The last time the Yankees managed only one hit was Sept. 28, when Baltimore’s Daniel Cabrera carried a no-hitter into the ninth before Robinson Cano singled with one out.

It was the AL-best eighth shutout of the season for Oakland, which leads the league in ERA.

The Yankees were blanked for the fifth time.

Making his second start since he was recalled from the minors, Igawa (2-2) allowed four runs and five hits in 61⁄3 innings. The left-hander has given up a team-high 11 homers in 412⁄3 major league innings.

Wearing sunglasses on the mound, Igawa set down his first eight batters before running into trouble. Kendall hit a line drive down the left-field line and off the screen for his second homer in 18 days and third in three seasons with the A’s.

Stewart followed with a no-doubt shot to left, his seventh home run of the year and fourth on the road trip.

Igawa walked his next two hitters and appeared headed toward a complete collapse.

But he got out of the inning and was one pitch from getting through the sixth trailing by two.

Then he walked Chavez, and Johnson drove a 1-2 pitch into the right-field upper deck, about seven rows up.

Notes

The Yankees, who won the series opener 2-1 on Friday night, have not scored in 16 innings. It was the fifth straight completed game in which they failed to score more than two runs.