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A's rally to complete 4-game sweep of Yankees

Jul 23, 2012 - 3:29 AM Oakland, CA (Sports Network) - It was another one-run game and another dramatic win for the Oakland Athletics.

Seth Smith smacked the game-tying solo homer in the ninth and Coco Crisp provided the game-winning RBI single in the 12th as the A's rallied to complete their first four-game sweep of the Yankees at the Coliseum with a 5-4 triumph on Sunday.

"We always feel like we have a chance to win," Crisp said.

The A's have won each of their last five contests by a run. They registered their MLB-leading 11th walk-off victory and the sixth in their last 11 home games while moving to an MLB-best 14-2 in July.

Jerry Blevins (3-0) tossed two scoreless innings in relief to pick up the win.

Trailing 4-0 after four innings of play, the A's plated the game's final five runs.

"To keep competing after so many games where you're so drained and then compete as hard as we've competed all year in this game, you've got to find that pretty special," A's manager Bob Melvin said.

Entering the ninth down 4-3, Smith clubbed a one-out blast to dead center off Rafael Soriano, who blew his second save in 26 opportunities this year. It was also the first long ball allowed by him this season.

"Everybody has a bad day," Soriano said. "Today was the second time for me."

Mark Teixeira lofted one high into right to lead off the 12th, which Josh Reddick lost in the sun. The ball popped out of his glove, while Texeira, running hard on the play, hustled into second.

Teixeira, though, was stranded there.

After Robinson Cano flied out the center, Alex Rodriguez was intentionally walked. Raul Ibanez and Eric Chavez then both popped out to end the threat.

In the home half, Derek Norris reached on a one-out single off Cody Eppley (0-2) and scampered to second on Jemile Weeks' sacrifice bunt.

Up next, Crisp slapped a single just over Cano's glove at second and Norris easily trotted home for the winning run.

Curtis Granderson smacked his 26th homer of the season and drove in two, Teixeira added a pair of hits and an RBI and Rodriguez smacked a two-run double for the Yankees, who were last swept in a four-game set by the Toronto Blue Jays on May 22-25, 2003.

"They played well, there's no doubt about it," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "They were all close games, that's baseball."

New York opened the scoring with three runs in the third and added another in the fourth.

Four consecutive singles to start the third by Dewayne Wise, Chris Stewart, Granderson and Teixeira plated a run. With the bags full and no outs, Cano lined out, but Rodriguez brought home two when he drilled a double off the wall in left-center, giving the Yankees a 3-0 lead.

Granderson ripped a solo shot onto the stairwell down the right-field line in the fourth to make it 4-0.

But the resilient A's charged back.

Brandon Inge and Kurt Suzuki each cracked solo blasts in the fifth to cut the deficit in half, 4-2.

The A's put runners on the corners with one out in the sixth, and Inge rolled one to shortstop for a potential double play, but he beat the relay throw to first, allowing Yoenis Cespedes to score and make it 4-3.

Game Notes

Oakland is 29-14 since June 2...The A's last completed a four-game sweep of the Yankees on July 14-16, 1972 in New York...Yankees starter CC Sabathia surrendered three runs on six hits and a walk in seven innings, while Oakland starter and former Yankee Bartolo Colon was charged with four runs on eight hits and a walk over 6 2/3 frames...It was Suzuki's first homer since Sep. 15, 2011, a total of 78 games...It was Crisp's second walk-off hit this season.