Hitless Bombers using pitching to outclass A’s in 4

8/1-8/2 - Yankee Stadium
GAME 1 - A's 7, Yankees 0
A stunned crowd at the House that Ruth built couldn't believe that their dynasty Yankee ballclub could succumb to the lowly A's, who have been nicknamed "The Yankees farm team".  KC's Jim Archer pitched the game of his life vs this All-Star lineup.  Archer threw a tidy 6 hit shutout vs the Bronx Bombers.  New York's only threat occurred when The Mick tripled off the monuments with 2 out in the 6th, but Archer was able to strike out Roger Maris and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way.  Crafty White Ford battle Archer until the 7th when he and Ryne Duren combined to allow KC to score 4 big runs to make it 6-0.  The big hit of the inning was a 2 run single by none other than Archer himself.  KC Left Fielder Leo Posada had himself a 3 hit day in support of Archer.

GAME 2 - Yankees 3, A's 1
If Game 1's blowout win by KC was to serve as a wake up call to the Yanks, the alarm was not to go off until the bottom of the 7th inning.  With the score deadlocked at 1 thanks to some fantastic pitching on behalf of Ralph Terry and Norm Bass.  Could the A's pull the upset of the decade and knock off arguably the greatest team of the decade ?  Not a chance !  Only Hollywood can write such stories.  In fact if Hollywood was writing this one they would have at least had the M&M Boys wreak havoc on Bass for a heroic victory.  That too was not the case as the 2 big runs that Terry would need would come from the bottom of the order.  Glove man Clete Boyer, a former Athletic, doubled home Yogi with 2 outs and Terry (himself a former KC player) singled home Boyer.  That recipe of pitching and clutch hitting spelt doom for the A's when they had a great chance to put the Bombers on the brink of elimination.

8/4-8/5 - Municipal Stadium
GAME 3 - Yankees 2, A's 1
The regular season (109 wins) juggernaut Bronx Bombers seemingly forgot to hit.  What is more troublesome is that this dry spell or dare we say "slump" is occurring verse one of the worst pitching staffs in the AL.  Bill Stafford toed the rubber for New York and gave up a quick run to the A's in the bottom of the first when Dick Howser singled, stole second and was knocked home by Wayne Causey.  For the next 6 innings it looked like that 1-0 lead would hold up.  That is because Jerry Walker, who was 8-14 (4.82) had one of those rare moments on the big stage where everything breaks right.  Then in the top of the 8th the bubble burs when Tony Kubek led off with a single and catcher Elston Howard ripped one down the left field line just over the fence to make it 2-1.  Stafford would tire and Luis Arroyo would replace him for the final 4 outs to record the save and put the suddenly offensively challenged Bombers up 2-1.

GAME 4 - Yankees 11, A's 3
Whitey Ford once again graced the mound with his presence and once again the Bombers spotted the A's a run in the first plus their bats remained cold once more.  That was until the top of the 4th when Roger Maris (another former Athletic) doubled.  Moose Skowron singled to put runners on the corners and Berra then walked to load up the bases.  Maris scored on a ground out by Bobby Richardson and Skowron scored on a sac fly by Boyer to make it 2-1 Yanks  With the score 5-1 New York blew it open with a 6 run 8th inning that included back to back to back homers by Maris, Skowron and Berra off embattled reliever Bill Kunkel.  Maris would have 4 RBI's on the day and the A's would make this Yankee series win a tough one for sure.