OAKLAND -- The Yankees have been searching for a spark during a lackluster 12-20 stretch since the All-Star break. And perhaps they'll find it at the Coliseum, where they opened a four-game series with a resounding 13-4 blowout win over the A's on Thursday, erupting for their highest offensive output of the second half.

New York has now won four straight games for the first time in nearly two months, when the team took the final four games of a homestand against Houston and Oakland from June 26-29.

• Box score

Much of the pregame hype centered around the return of slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who had missed a month with left Achilles tendinitis. Stanton didn't waste much time settling back in, going 1-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs. 

"I mean, he definitely adds another layer," Josh Donaldson said. "He came up in some big situations for us today, and drove some runs in and hit some balls really hard. … There's not too many people on this planet who can do that."

But while Stanton's return provided a boost, it was the bottom of the batting order that powered the Yanks to victory.

Donaldson, Oswaldo Cabrera, Jose Trevino and Isiah Kiner-Falefa combined to go 10-for-20, driving in seven runs and scoring 10. In 23 combined plate appearances, the four of them were retired just nine times.

"Ozzy, three hits. Trevi had some good at-bats. Izzy might have had the most key at-bats in the game, to kind of get that first big inning going with a really tough at-bat," manager Aaron Boone said. "That's another byproduct of getting Giancarlo back. … We get a little bit deeper throughout."

The Yankees created most of their offense in three big innings -- the second, third and fourth -- in which New York sent a combined 26 batters to the plate. The quartet of Donaldson, Cabrera, Trevino and Kiner-Falefa proved to be the catalyst, as some combination of the four of them reached base in each of those innings to set the table for the top of the order.

And once they were on, the Yankees started pouring on runs.

"Offense is contagious," said Jameson Taillon, who earned the win with six innings of one-run ball. "You have guys at the top working long at-bats and stuff, and then you get to the bottom, and those are guys that have been grinding. They put together good at-bats. And then, if those guys are able to get on and turn it over to the top, you have to like our chances."

As with most teams, the bottom of the order has been the weakest for the Yankees all season -- but like the big league club, it has struggled even more in the second half. The Yankees' six through nine batters have hit .214 with a .584 OPS and a 68 wRC+ since the All-Star break -- which all rank fourth-worst in the league.

That didn't matter on Thursday night, as the bottom of New York's order feasted on offerings from Oakland starter James Kaprielian -- a former top Yankees prospect -- who alternatively grooved meatballs middle-middle or struggled to find the strike zone.

Yankees batters got eight hits off Kaprielian, but they also drew six walks against the right-hander -- and four of those walks came around to score.

"I think we just worked a lot of good at-bats today," Kiner-Falefa said. "We passed the baton, something we've wanted to start doing again, and just trusting the next guy up. Just working the at-bat, but not trying to do too much as a team."

For the first time in a while, the Yankees feel like they're rolling. And they'll look to keep that momentum going, as this four-game set in Oakland is just the first stop of a 10-game, three-city road trip.

"Flying cross-country, then an off-day -- I feel like it would have been easy just for everyone to come out a little flat, and we came out the complete opposite," Taillon said. "Great energy in the dugout, great defense all night, team at-bats all night."

The Yankees will hope that that positive energy, like Thursday night's offense, proves to be contagious.