Ever since their move from Oakland to Las Vegas took place last year, the Athletics have continued facing new challenges. Last season, when the A’s played their last game in the Oakland Coliseum, owner John Fisher still wanted his team to play in Oakland until their planned new stadium in Las Vegas is ready. But to Fisher’s disappointment, the A’s were denied to play another baseball game despite having “a long-standing relationship and good intentions on all sides in the negotiations.” 

This rejection ultimately forced the A’s to switch their bases to a minor league stadium in West Sacramento, California. And while the A’s plan to call the Sutter Health Park their next home until they build their new stadium in LV, Fisher’s team is facing some serious criticism amid the ongoing Yankees series.

Coming off a huge series win over the Padres, the New York Yankees dominated the Athletics on Friday in a home run fest, 10-2. This game also marked Aaron Judge’s return to the Sacramento area for the first time after his collegiate days. Will Warren, once again, was brilliant from the mound and won the game for the Bombers. However, in the second game, the Yankees could not avoid a defeat despite the reigning MVP slugging two homers. This defeat only fueled the debate on MLB games being played in minor league ballparks.

While the A’s owner remains excited to spend at least the next three years in Sacramento, the decision to play in a minor league park is proving to be a graveyard for the A’s, as they have won only eight out of 20 games played in the Sutter Health Park this season. A total of six home runs were hit in the second game only. Reacting to the Yankees’ defeat, Ashley Rodon, Carlos Rodon’s wife, did not hold back her true emotions.

“Criminal to play major league games in minor league parks,” Ashley Rodon shared her thoughts in an X post.

Sutter Health Park can accommodate around 14,000 fans, a far cry from Yankee Stadium’s 46,000-plus capacity. The size isn’t just a matter of numbers. It’s about energy, atmosphere, and identity. The Yankees are used to performing under the bright lights and booming crowds of the Bronx. They play where every pitch feels like a playoff moment. In Sacramento, even though most fans were donning pinstripes, the environment simply didn’t carry the same weight.

Ashley Rodon subtly touched on this disconnect. While she didn’t directly blame the loss on the venue, her pointed remarks hinted at the psychological toll of playing in what feels more like a spring training facility than a major league game. The Yankees didn’t just lose a game, but they lost a sense of place, of presence. And that, she suggested, might matter more than the box score reveals.

But hey, even with such negatives with the park, Carlos Rodon made a mark!

He stood tall on a mound that barely feels like it belongs in the major leagues, fired 98 pitches, struck out 10 men, and handed the ball off with a two-run lead. He was every bit the $26 million ace the Yankees paid for, commanding, efficient, unshaken.

Still, the Yankees lost! Will it be just a bump in the road, or are the Yankees going downhill?

A stark warning for the Yankees’ bullpen

A team topping the AL East chart with a comfortable 22-17 record might just take the loss against the Athletics as an upset, but their bullpen?

For six innings, it looked like Rodon was finally turning a corner. The left-hander pounded the zone, flashed a sharp breaking ball, and exited to a warm ovation with the Yankees holding a lead.

But that lead, like so many this season, was anything but safe.

The Yankees’ bullpen blew out, turning a promising night into yet another chapter in a growing book of late-inning heartbreaks. In the eighth inning, with the Yankees clinging to a 6–4 lead, the A’s offense exploded for a three-run homer that flipped the game on its head. Just like that, it was 7–6, and the air was sucked out of the Bronx.

Now, you would have hoped for a comeback, but it faded quickly in the ninth. The A’s poured on four more runs, capitalizing on wild pitches, defensive lapses, and a bullpen that couldn’t find the strike zone. By the time the dust settled, the final score read 11–7—a stinging loss in a game the Yankees once seemed in control of.

Hence, this defeat was made more bitter by what could have been. The Yankees once again found themselves unable to finish what their starter began. A sign of disappointment echoes…