OAKLAND -- There was no evident slumping of Aroldis Chapman’s shoulders, no here-we-go-again vibe in the ninth inning on Thursday, when Starling Marte sliced a ground-ball single past third baseman Gio Urshela.

With the game on the line, Chapman fell behind Matt Olson, but he spotted a 3-1 fastball perfectly, inducing a chopper that preserved the Yankees’ 7-6 victory over the A's. Chapman also became the 31st pitcher in Major League history to reach the 300-save plateau. (Saves became an official stat in 1969.)

“To be honest, I never thought about it,” Chapman said through an interpreter. “In the beginning, I wasn’t even a closer. But as you go on with your career, there are certain goals that you come to reach. I’m very happy to get to this number.”

Chapman is the first Major Leaguer to reach 300 saves since the Dodgers’ Kenley Jansen, and he's only the second to achieve the feat with the Yankees, joining Hall of Famer and all-time saves leader Mariano Rivera.

For Chapman, the outing may prove to be meaningful in more ways than one. It extended the Yanks’ win streak to 12 games, their longest since 1961. It also came two days after Chapman failed to record the final three outs of Tuesday’s 5-4 victory over the Braves, tossing 26 pitches before yielding to left-hander Wandy Peralta.

Chapman seemed reluctant to throw his fastball in that outing. He said that he incorporated mechanical tweaks to his delivery before Thursday’s appearance; the All-Star left-hander reviewed video of previous appearances with pitching coach Matt Blake and bullpen coach Mike Harkey.

“Overall, I just want to be more effective,” Chapman said. “It was in my mind to use my fastball more. That’s something I wanted to do.”

Chapman’s fastball velocity touched 99.4 mph on Thursday and averaged 97.2 mph, a slight dip from his 2021 average. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that he was pleased that Chapman could take his adjustments from pregame catch to the mound.

“I thought he did a good job on the attack,” Boone said. “You saw him use his fastball and not shy away. I think the little subtle adjustment he made in his posture on the mound really helped him. … [Chapman has to] remember how great of a fastball he has, and make sure that’s a feature pitch for him.”

Ready to go
Corey Kluber will make his return to the rotation on Monday against the Angels in Anaheim, marking the right-hander’s first big league outing since May 25, when he went three innings against the Blue Jays before exiting with a right subscapular strain.

“The injury is behind me and I’m healthy at this point, so I’m going to try to go out and pitch like I’m capable of,” Kluber said. “Looking at the big picture is probably getting ahead of ourselves at this point in time, so I don’t think I’m going to treat it any different than I normally would.”

Kluber made his most recent rehab start on Tuesday for Double-A Somerset against Akron, allowing two runs and five hits over 3 2/3 innings. Kluber walked one and struck out four, while also hitting a batter.

“It’s about getting built up,” Kluber said. “I don’t want to say it’s like Spring Training, because I think it’s different than that. But there’s a combination of executing pitches the way you’d like to and making sure your recovery time bouncing back doesn’t have extra stress.”

He said it
“I think everybody loves Mario. I’m happy people are wearing my shirt. It’s a dream come true, honestly. When they make a shirt of you, it’s like you’ve made it.” -- left-hander Nestor Cortes Jr., on his Super Mario Bros.-themed T-shirt

This date in Yankees history
Aug. 27, 1938: The Yankees played their fourth doubleheader in four days, sweeping the Indians by scores of 8-7 and 13-0. Joe DiMaggio had three triples in the first game, while Monte Pearson threw a no-hitter in the second game.