OAKLAND, Calif. — Gerrit Cole prepared for the postseason by limiting the Athletics to one run over nine innings and Juan Soto came off the bench to hit an RBI double in the 10th inning to give the New York Yankees a 4-2 victory Friday night in the opening game of the last scheduled home game ever in Oakland.

“That’s the Cy Young,” Soto said. “That was the Cy Young that went there. I never doubted his ability and how great he is. It’s just awesome to see him do that.”

Cole (7-5) was sharp after being hit hard in a loss to Boston last Saturday, allowing two hits and one walk. He struck out seven and needed just 99 pitches to survive the sixth inning for the first time since shutting out Toronto in his final start of 2023.

“I think it was a combination of their aggressiveness and executing good pitches early in the count,” Cole said. “There were a couple of balls that were hit hard, but they were well placed. I was trying to direct the balls to our defenders.”

Cole won the game thanks in part to a rare pinch-hitter by Soto, who was removed from the starting lineup Thursday in Seattle because of left leg soreness after sliding into a wall.

After a passed ball by Shea Langeliers provided the go-ahead run in the 10th inning, Soto hit his big hit off TJ McFarland (2-4) for a 3-1 lead. Soto is 2 for 10 with four RBI in 13 career pinch-hit appearances.

“It was great — as a showman,” Cole said. “He loves the moment. He loves it.”

Anthony Volpe, who started the day 5-for-44, hit his second RBI single of the game and closed the 10th inning with three runs.

Luke Weaver got three outs for his third save, helping the Yankees maintain their four-game lead over Baltimore in the AL East.

It was a disappointing start to the final stretch of games in Oakland. The A’s have five more home games this season before leaving town. They are scheduled to play the next three seasons in Sacramento and plan to move to Las Vegas in 2028, where they are attempting to build a new stadium.

The season opener was attended by 23,426, pushing the A’s season average over the 10,000 mark for the first time since opening night.

Both starters faced the minimum number of batters for 3 1/2 innings, with Cole retiring his first nine batters and Oakland turning a double play after both early hits were allowed by JT Ginn.

The teams then traded runs, with the A’s taking the lead with an RBI single by Langeliers in the fourth inning and Volpe tying the score with his run-scoring single in the fifth inning.

“It was a good baseball game,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “When you get to extra innings, anything can happen. Overall, I thought we played well. We couldn’t do anything against Cole. We’re not the first team to not do anything against Cole.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: RHP Cody Poteet was recalled from the 60-day DL and sent to Triple-A. … RHP Ron Marinaccio was designated for assignment.

Athletics: RHP Ross Stripling (back) will throw a bullpen session Saturday, face batters Tuesday and, if all goes well, could pitch the final weekend of the season in Seattle.

NEXT

LHP Carlos Rodon (15-9, 4.12 ERA) starts the middle game of the series for the Yankees against LHP JP Sears (11-11, 4.24).

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb