Daily dose of Yordan (Game 86)

Today's statline: 3-3, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R, BB

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At bat 1 (Bottom of first): 1 pitch home run to center, 2 RBIs, R

Yordan's first at bat back from his parental leave, and he started it with a bang. He crushed the first pitch he saw, a low fastball right in his money zone, and launched it 420 feet to dead center for a home run, scoring Brantley who had reached earlier on a walk. After seeing him consistently watch good first pitches for strikes in earlier games, it was a fresh relief to see him swing away on a juicy first pitch fastball and do damage with it. Hopefully that trend of being selectively aggressive continues.

At bat 2 (Bottom of fourth): 3 pitch single to right, R

Once again, Yordan swung at the first pitch he saw in the at bat, this time a fastball right down the middle that he fouled off. He then watched an inside fastball close to his hands before swinging at another inside fastball in the zone and pulling it hard to right field. The shortstop was positioned nicely there and made a nice effort but the ball glanced off his glove and into the outfield for a leadoff single. He would later advance to second on a Toro single and score on a bloop Myles Straw single.

At bat 3 (Bottom of fifth): 5 pitch home run to left, 3 RBIs, R

Yordan watched the first pitch of the at bat, offspeed low and near the dirt, for a ball, before watching another offspeed pitch, this one a borderline strike inside that could have honestly gone either way. He then watched two more inside fastballs near where the last one was for balls to make it a 3-1 count. His exceptional patience here forced Bassitt into the zone, and he grooved a cookie right down the middle that Yordan smashed to left field for a no-doubt, opposite field 3 run home run that tied the game and chased Bassitt out. A great job here by him to establish the inside half of the plate, forcing the pitcher to throw in the zone. A lesser hitter might have been tempted to swing at those inside fastballs after the second pitch was called a borderline strike, but Yordan didn't give in and took the next two for balls, which was extremely admirable. Just a beautiful swing here by him too, the reaction by both him and the pitcher right after the ball was hit said it all.

At bat 4 (Bottom of sixth): intentional walk

A's manager Bob Melvin wanted nothing to do with Yordan, as with a base open he chose to intentionally walk Yordan, who has already had a great night so far, choosing instead to pitch to Carlos Correa. It ended up working out, as Correa flied out to end the inning. A great sign of respect from one of the better managers in the game though.