Virgin Islander Jharel Cotton was sensational in his game, despite losing to the Yankees. Photo: File

Cotton continues to make the Virgin Islands proud in the international baseball arena. Photo: File

Cotton, called back up after injuries to starting pitchers Kendall Graveman and Jessee Hahn, didn’t allow a hit until the sixth, when with two outs and one on, onetime A’s outfielder Matt Holliday blasted a homer to left, the winning blow as the Yankees topped Oakland 3-2.

Cotton was all over the place in the first, with a walk, a hit batter and a wild pitch ahead of a sacrifice fly.

“Pitching at Yankee Stadium was a great feeling and I wanted it to be spectacular, so I guess I was too amped up,” Cotton said.

That left the rookie in the strange position much of the day of allowing no hits while trailing 1-0. The A’s tied the score in the sixth before Holliday moved New York back ahead.

“I wanted to go out and get through the sixth inning with no hits, but I guess I thought about it too much,” said Cotton, who tried to throw a cutter away to Holliday but left it over the middle.

Cotton left after a single by Starlin Castro, having thrown a season-high 107 pitches. He walked three, two of whom scored, and he struck out five. Making his day all the more remarkable, he was working essentially without his best pitch, his changeup. He didn’t have much of a feel for it and threw it only 10 times, he said. He made up for it with a wicked cutter that accounted for the majority of the swinging strikes he threw.

“A great recovery, about as good as I’ve seen,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said of Cotton’s switcheroo from too wild to unhittable.

Like his day Saturday, Cotton’s season is a little all over the map, with a few superb starts sprinkled among some real stinkers. He was 3-4 with a 5.68 ERA in seven starts before being demoted May 11, but he was 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA at Triple-A Nashville and he was fantastic in September, going 2-2 with a 2.15 ERA in five starts. There’s no question he’s talented enough to be part of the big-league staff, it’s just a matter of tweaks here and there and gaining experience.

“The one thing he can take away from today is that he can be a really, really good pitcher. He’s just got to trust it,” catcher Josh Phegley said. “He controls his own destiny. If he throws strikes and gets after hitters, that’s the kind of outing he can put together.”