by Jerry Feitelberg

sfgate.com photo: Oakland A’s pitcher Marc Rzepczynski (not pictured) plunks San Francisco Giant hitter Gregor Blanco in the bottom of the seventh inning at AT&T Park on Tuesday night

SAN FRANCISCO–What a game. Neither team would give an inch as they battled tooth and nail all the way until Ryan Madson struck out Brandon Crawford to end the monumental struggle. The A’s outlasting the Giants 13-11. The Game featured both teams scoring twenty-four runs and producing thirty hits. Neither starter, Kendall Graveman for the A’s nor the Giants’ Albert Suarez figured in the decision. The A’s used six pitchers and the Giants countered with eight. Zach Neal received credit for the win, and Javy Lopez took the loss for San Francisco. The game was wildly entertaining, and the fans of both teams cheered their heroes on, but it was the A’s fans that went home with a big smile on their faces.

The Giants scored two runs in the bottom of the third. Angel Pagan and Buster Posey singled to get things going for the Orange and Black. Brandon Crawford, leading the team in RBIs, came through with a blast that bounced off the wall in centerfield to drive in Pagan and Posey.  The Giants are ahead 2-0 after three complete.

In the top of the fourth, with one out, A’s left fielder, Khris Davis, put a big fly into the left field seats to cut the A’s deficit to one. For Davis, it was his team-leading nineteenth home run of the year. Giants still in the lead 2-1 in the middle of the fourth. Kendall Graveman couldn’t hold the Giants down in the Giants’ half of the inning. The Giants, who had recorded six hits off Graveman in the first three innings, continued to have success at the plate. Singles by Ramiro Pena and Conor Gillaspie put runners at first and second with no out. Suarez laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. Denard Span walked to load the bases and Pena, and Gillaspie scored on a single by Angel Pagan. The Giants own a 4-1 lead after four.

The A’s took the lead in the sixth. They sent nine men to the plate as they batted around and scored four runs on three hits. Giant pitchers walked two, and an error by Giant third baseman helped the A’s score the runs. Albert Suarez pitched very well, but it will be a no-decision for him.The key blows in the inning were a double by Stephen Vogt to drive in two and a pinch-hit single by Billy Butler that drove in two more runs for the Green and Gold. John Axford is now pitching for Oakland in relief of Kendall Graveman. In the Giants’ half of the inning, they tied the game as Axford just couldn’t get anyone out. He gave up a single and a walk to put two men on with no out. Leadoff hitter Denard Span doubled to left to drive in Conor Gillespie with the Giants’ fifth run of the game. Marc Rzepczynski is in for Oakland with runners on at second and third with no out. Rzepczynski retired the next two batters on just two pitches then issued an intentional walk to Buster Posey to load the bases. The strategy to have a lefty pitcher face a lefty batter backfired as Giants’ shortstop Brandon Crawford tripled to left-center to clear the bases and put the Giants back in the lead 8-5.

The hits keep on coming as each team comes back to regain the lead. The A’s scored five times in the eighth to take the lead 10-8. Khris Davis started the rally when he was hit by a pitch. Stephen Vogt walked to put two men on with no out. Marcus Semien singled to drive in Davis with the A’s sixth run. Jake Smolinski, pinch-hitting for the pitcher, blasted a Javy Lopez deep into the bleachers in left field that allowed the A’s to take the lead 9-8. The A’s added another run when Coco doubled, and Jed Lowrie knocked him in with a single. The A’s batted around for the second time in the game. The Giants refuse to quit. With two out, they managed to produce their ninth run of the contest when Brandon Crawford walked, went to second on a single and scored on another single. Ryan Madson was able to escape the jam when he retired Gillaspie for the final out of the inning.

The A’s continued the onslaught in the ninth. Santiago Casilla, the former Athletic and now the closer for San Francisco, gave up a double to Stephen Vogt with one out. Casilla walked Semien and then committed a balk to move the runners up a base. Josh Phegley, who came into the game as a pinch-hitter in the eighth, doubled down the left-field line to drive in two more runs. Coco Crisp singled to drive in Phegley with the A’s thirteenth run of the night. Coco went to second on the throw home. The Giants Jarrett Parker hit a solo homer leading off the ninth to cut the deficit to three. Denard Span also hit a solo job into the right field bleachers as the Giants now trail by two 13-11 with no out.

Game Notes- The A’s activated right fielder Josh Reddick off the DL and to make room for him on the roster, they sent Max Muncy back to Nashville. The A’s also announced that lefty starter Rich Hill will pitch on Saturday and Daniel Mengden will be moved back a day to Sunday. Hill has been on the DL for over a month with a groin strain.

The Line score for the A’s was 13 runs-twelve hits and no errors while the Giants produced eleven runs-18 hits and one error. The last time the Giants lost a nine-inning game in which they had eighteen or more hits was August 7th, 1943 against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Game three of the series will be played at the Oakland Coliseum Wednesday night at 7:05 pm. Lefty Sean Manaea will pitch for Oakland, and  Jake Peavy will be on the mound for the Giants.

Time of game was three hours and fifty-three minutes. 41,730 fans watched the titanic struggle between the two Bay Area rivals.