O is for Oakland, and for Ouch

Brett Gardner will have arthroscopic surgery on his elbow next week. Which means he's probably out for the rest of the season.

Ouch. Speaking of things that begin with the letter O, the Yankees started a series on the Pacific Coast last night, against the Oakland Athletics.

There was a Yankee outfielder returning to the team, but it was Reggie Jackson, back in the fold after his flap about Alex Rodriguez. Reggie starred for the A's before coming to the Yankees, and still has a home in the East Bay, so it was natural to let this series in Oakland be his rejoining point.

Freddy Garcia (4-3) didn't pitch too badly, but he gave up a long 1st inning home run to the renowned Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes. And, this time, the Yankee bats didn't give him the run support. Robinson Cano extended his hitting streak to 22 games, making it the 4th-longest Yankee streak since Joe DiMaggio's record 56 in 1941: Joe Gordon had 29 in 1942, Derek Jeter had 25 in 2006, and Don Mattingly had 24 in 1986.

Nick Swisher, a former A's outfielder who certainly knows how to hit in the Coliseum, hit his 14th homer of the season to close the gap to 4-3 in the 9th. But that was it.

A.J. Griffin (2-0) held the Yankees off for most of the game -- once again, the Yankees losing to a pitcher they'd never seen before. Ryan Cook closed it out for the save (10).

The series continues tonight, at 10:05 Eastern Time. Ivan Nova starts against... Tommy Milone. Another unfamiliar pitcher.

Then again, with Moneyball having failed so spectacularly, there's very few players on the A's roster that most fans would recognize.

Joba Chamberlain is scheduled for another Gulf Coast League outing today. We thought he'd be out for the rest of the season, but he could well be back sometime next month.