In both a series against a team headed nowhere (except Sacramento) and in a game, the Yankees missed an opportunity.
Aaron Boone’s team continually mounted threats and continually wasted those chances on a chilly Thursday night.
The Yankees lost, 3-1, to the A’s in front of 40,141 in The Bronx, a disappointing split with a club whose ownership is more focused on leaving Oakland than putting a competitive team on the field.
Against an opposing starting pitcher in Alex Wood who entered with a 7.89 ERA, the Yankees scored one run.
Fans who tuned in instead to the NFL draft or Knicks game did not miss much.
The Yankees (17-9), who won four of seven on this homestand, will begin a seven-game trip through Milwaukee and Baltimore on Friday, both representing a step-up in competition.
The Yankees’ offense showed signs of breaking out of a collective funk Wednesday, when just about everyone contributed offensively.
A night later, the Yankees managed 11 hits but seemingly none at opportune moments.
Of those 11 hits, one came in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position, and that one didn’t score a run. The problems in big moments began early.
The Yankees loaded the bases without an out seven pitches into Wood’s night.
But Giancarlo Stanton struck out before Anthony Rizzo grounded into a double play, which would become a theme.
They loaded the bases again in the fourth partly because Stanton, who is more mobile this season, still is not particularly mobile.
Stanton reached on an error, did not advance to third on a Rizzo single down the right-field line or a Gleyber Torres fly out to right then took only third on a single from Alex Verdugo.
That single represented the only clutch hit and ultimately was meaningless: With the bases juiced and one out, Jose Trevino grounded into a double play.
The problem again arose in the fifth, when two reached before Stanton grounded out, and again in the sixth, when Oswaldo Cabrera grounding out to extinguish a two-on threat.
Even the Yankees’ one run came with a smack of regret.
In the second inning, Torres, who had singled, was picked off first base.
Wood’s very next pitch became a short-porch homer from Trevino, a solo shot instead of a two-run homer.
That would not be enough on a night Nestor Cortes was solid (three runs on five hits in seven innings) but delivered two pitches he wanted back.
It was figures from Boone’s personal life who caused Cortes problems in the troublesome third inning.
Nick Allen, who is the A’s shortstop and who is married to Boone’s niece, smacked a solo home run off Cortes in the frame.
The A’s then took the lead for good a few batters later, when right fielder Tyler Nevin — the son of Boone pal and former Yankees third-base coach Phil Nevin — blasted a two-run homer to right that proved to be the difference.
If the Yankees couldn’t get to the soft-tossing Wood, they weren’t going to touch the back of the A’s bullpen.
Fireballer Mason Miller struck out Juan Soto and induced a fly out from Aaron Judge to finish off his second dominant performance of the series.
