Luke Voit lifts New York Yankees again in key series vs. Oakland Athletics

OAKLAND, Calif. --Luke Voit had been a regular on the major-to-minor-league shuttle throughout this season before finally settling into a role with the New York Yankees late last month.

Offensive struggles from fellow first baseman Greg Bird helped give him big league playing opportunities, ones the 27-year-old isn't trying to let go of anytime soon.

Voit's bat has proved as much the past two weeks.

Already on a home run-hitting tear entering Tuesday night's game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Voit kept the hot-hitting stretch alive late in the game when he barreled up an 81.2 mph changeup and deposited it well over the left-field wall. The solo, go-ahead, eighth-inning homer proved to be the only other run the Yankees needed in their meaningful 5-1 win over the Oakland Athletics.

"He's had his great changeup forever," Voit said of A's reliever Fernando Rodney. "I saw a good one the first pitch, and I was just kind of taking that approach, just kind of stay right-center on it if he hangs it. He left a pitch up, and I got to do some damage with it."

The home run was Voit's major league-leading seventh since Aug. 24. That night, he hit two in an opener at Baltimore, helping spark a series sweep. Of the seven home runs Voit has hit across this 12-game stretch, five have either tied games or been go-ahead shots like Tuesday's.

Voit also has homered in each of his past three games. Unlike this latest blast, though, those came in losses.

"We've kind of been in a funk, and it's baseball, you're going to go through phases," Voit said. "We're going to get hot at the right time. This team is so freaking dangerous.

"The sky is the limit, and I'm excited to get deep into the playoffs with this team."

New York's path to the postseason has to go through this series at Oakland. A win Wednesday would give the Yankees a clutch series win over a team that currently sits 4 games behind them in the American League wild-card race.

In part because so many of them have been so meaningful to the games they've been hit in, Voit's blasts have had their share of signature flair.

As soon as he connected with the hanging changeup Tuesday, he went into his now-patented short hop out of the batter's box, reminiscent of Sammy Sosa. From there, he extended his right hand into the sky, pointing with his index finger as the ball traveled toward the left-field seats.

At the same time the ball rattled off the seats and into the concrete staircase adjacent to them, Voit was aggressively pointing into the Yankees' dugout, yelling towards it as he ran up the first-base line. Once he rounded third, the amped first baseman went airborne once again, giving third-base coach Phil Nevin a bump with his forearm.

This wasn't the first time his excitement rounding the bases has been so visible. He had teammates cracking up in the dugout at Baltimore as he gleefully circled his way home on the first homers he had hit as a Yankee.

"It just kind of happens. I don't know," Voit said, smiling at reporters. "I just play with excitement, and like some of you guys say, it feeds the team, it ignites the team."

After Voit's latest home run, the Yankees added one more in the eighth on an RBI single from Aaron Hicks. In the ninth, Adeiny Hechavarria, another Yankees newcomer like Voit, clubbed a similarly long homer to left. Five batters later, Brett Gardner ripped his own RBI-single to push the lead to 5-1.

"We all just kind of smile [seeing Voit], because we're waiting to see what kind of antics he might have when he's running around the bases, or if he's going to leap and fist-bump and chest-bump, get the crowd going," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "Whatever he does, we like to watch the reaction. He plays the game with a lot of joy."

Other players on other teams have also begun noticing the energy with which Voit -- a non-waiver trade deadline acquisition from the St. Louis Cardinals -- plays.

During a game in New York against the Detroit Tigers last weekend, Voit was humbled when Tigers veteran Victor Martinez paid him a compliment.

"He was like, 'Man, you're having so much fun out there. Just enjoy every second. Because I thought I was going to play until I was 100. Time comes,'" Voit said, relaying the conversation. "It's cool stuff. Especially from veteran guys who see that, and see the excitement that young guys bring. He wants guys to succeed in this game, just like he did. It's cool when guys do that."

Voit is finally getting his most major league experience after spending his young career bouncing between the major and minor leagues. He was sent back and forth between the levels 11 times this season before sticking in late August.

"He's got confidence deep down in his ability. He believes he can really hit," Boone said. "He plays, obviously, with a little bit of a swagger, but that's from a place of confidence. And when he's gotten this opportunity this time, he's made the most of it.

"What can you say? He's been really important for us."br/]