Despite giving up 11 hits, Tommy John was able to gain his sixth straight victory when the Yankees scored on a sacrifice fly by Lou Piniella in the ninth inning to edge the A's 5-4. John fell behind, 3-0, before Reggie Jackson knocked in two runs with a bases-loaded single in the sixth.

The A's picked up another tally in the eighth, but Mickey Rivers batted for Juan Beniquez in the Yankees' half and tied the score with a two-run homer. Bucky Dent led off the ninth with a double. Following an intentional pass to Willie Randolph, Thurman Munson bunted and reached first, loading the bases. Piniella then came up and hit his game-winning fly to center field. [The Sporting News]



New York Yankees 5, Oakland Athletics 4
Game Played on Saturday, May       5, 1979 (Day game) at Yankee Stadium I
A's          0  1  0    0  2  0    0  1  0  -   4 11  0
Yankees      0  0  0    0  0  2    0  2  1  -   5  7  1


A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Yankees              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Dilone rf             4   1   3   0     0   0   .261      Randolph 2b           4   1   1   0     1   0   .202
Murray lf             3   1   1   0     0   0   .211      Munson c              3   1   2   0     2   0   .292
Page dh               4   0   0   0     0   1   .206      Piniella lf           4   0   0   1     0   1   .232
Revering 1b           4   1   2   1     0   0   .287      Johnson dh            2   0   0   0     1   0   .250
Guerrero ss           4   1   3   1     0   0   .270        Johnstone ph,dh,cf  1   0   0   0     0   0   .250
Essian c              4   0   0   0     0   0   .260      Nettles 3b            3   0   0   0     1   0   .287
Gross 3b              3   0   1   0     1   0   .324      Jackson rf            2   1   1   2     2   1   .256
Edwards 2b            3   0   0   0     1   0   .181      Beniquez cf           3   0   0   0     0   1   .273
Murphy cf             4   0   1   1     0   0   .234        Rivers ph           1   1   1   2     0   0   .262
Johnson p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        John p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Heaverlo p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Spencer 1b            3   0   0   0     1   0   .318
                                                          Dent ss               4   1   2   0     0   0   .294

Totals               33   4  11   3     2   1             Totals               30   5   7   5     8   3

Time of Game: 2:37   Attendance: 30,167
Left on Base: A's 5, Yankees 9
DP: A's 1, Yankees 2
Errors: Piniella
Doubles: Dilone (1), Guerrero (1), Revering (7), Dent (3)
Home Runs: Rivers (1)
Caught Stealing: Dilone (5)
Sacrifice Hits: Murray (1)
Sacrifice Flies: Piniella (3)
GIDP: Essian (2), Edwards (1), Piniella (3)


A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Johnson                 6.2   4   2   2   6   3   0  29   5.15
Heaverlo L(2-1)         1.2   3   3   3   2   0   1  10   1.46
Totals                  8.1   7   5   5   8   3   1  39

Yankees                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
John W(6-0)             9    11   4   4   2   1   0  36   1.74
Totals                  9    11   4   4   2   1   0  36

Umpires: HP - Harold Siroka, 1B - Mike Fitzpatrick, 2B - Bill Henry, 3B - Merrill Hadry


ATHLETICS 1ST: Dilone doubled to left; Murray out on a sacrifice
bunt (pitcher to first) [Dilone to third]; Page struck out;
Revering grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Athletics 0, Yankees 0.

YANKEES 1ST: Randolph grounded out (shortstop to first); Munson
singled to left; Piniella grounded into a double play (shortstop
to second to first) [Munson out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Athletics 0, Yankees 0.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Guerrero doubled to left; Essian grounded out
(shortstop to first); Gross made an out to second; Edwards
walked; Murphy singled to center [Guerrero scored, Edwards to
third]; Dilone grounded out (shortstop to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E,
2 LOB.  Athletics 1, Yankees 0.

YANKEES 2ND: Johnson flied out to right; Nettles grounded out
(second to first); Jackson walked; Beniquez struck out; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 1, Yankees 0.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Murray flied out to right; Page grounded out
(shortstop to first); Revering flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 1, Yankees 0.

YANKEES 3RD: Spencer walked; Dent flied out to left; Randolph
flied out to center; Munson made an out to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 1, Yankees 0.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Guerrero flied out to right; Essian grounded out
(shortstop to first); Gross walked; Edwards forced Gross
(shortstop to second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 1,
Yankees 0.

YANKEES 4TH: Piniella struck out; Johnson walked; Nettles flied
out to right; Jackson struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Athletics 1, Yankees 0.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Murphy grounded out (second to first); Dilone
singled to pitcher; Murray singled to left [Dilone scored (error
by Piniella) (no RBI), Murray to third]; Page flied out to left;
Revering singled to right [Murray scored, Revering out at second
(right to shortstop)]; 2 R, 3 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 3,
Yankees 0.

YANKEES 5TH: Beniquez flied out to right; Spencer grounded out
(first unassisted); Dent flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Athletics 3, Yankees 0.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Guerrero singled to left; Essian grounded into a
double play (second to shortstop to first) [Guerrero out at
second]; Gross grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Athletics 3, Yankees 0.

YANKEES 6TH: Randolph singled to right; Munson walked [Randolph
to second]; Piniella flied out to left [Randolph to third];
Johnson flied out to left; Nettles walked [Munson to second];
Jackson singled to left [Randolph scored, Munson scored, Nettles
to third]; Beniquez forced Jackson (third to second); 2 R, 2 H,
0 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 3, Yankees 2.

ATHLETICS 7TH: Edwards made an out to second; Murphy flied out
to right; Dilone singled to first; Dilone was caught stealing
second (catcher to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 3,
Yankees 2.

YANKEES 7TH: Spencer grounded out (second to first); Dent
singled to shortstop; Randolph flied out to center; Munson
walked [Dent to second]; HEAVERLO REPLACED JOHNSON (PITCHING);
Piniella made an out to catcher; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Athletics 3, Yankees 2.

ATHLETICS 8TH: Murray made an out to third; Page flied out to
left; Revering doubled to center; Guerrero singled to center
[Revering scored]; Essian grounded out (third to first); 1 R, 2
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 4, Yankees 2.

YANKEES 8TH: JOHNSTONE BATTED FOR JOHNSON; Johnstone grounded
out (shortstop to first); Nettles flied out to right; Jackson
walked; RIVERS BATTED FOR BENIQUEZ; Rivers homered [Jackson
scored]; Spencer flied out to center; 2 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 4, Yankees 4.

ATHLETICS 9TH: JOHNSTONE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING CF); JOHN
REPLACED RIVERS (PITCHING); Gross singled to right; Edwards
grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first)
[Gross out at second]; Murphy flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Athletics 4, Yankees 4.

YANKEES 9TH: Dent doubled to right; Randolph was walked
intentionally; Munson singled to pitcher [Dent to third,
Randolph to second]; Piniella hit a sacrifice fly to center
[Dent scored]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 4, Yankees 5.