Photo credit: nbcsports.com

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Friday, July 13, 2018

SAN FRANCISCO – The Swingin’ A’s of Oakland enter this weekend’s interleague series as one of the hottest teams in baseball. The host San Francisco Giants, not so much, making for an interesting dynamic as both teams look for something besides bragging rights in the Bay Area series.

That “something” is “The Bridge,” a trophy created from steel salvaged from the original East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

In his pregame comments Friday, Giants manager Bruce Bochy seemed less concerned about The Bridge, as he was about an Oakland team that has won 19 of its last 24 games.

“It’s not so much about the trophy, but the fact you have two teams that are trying to get to the postseason,” Bochy said. “There’s nobody playing better than Oakland right now. They’re playing great, throwing the ball well. They’ve made some great comebacks, scoring runs, winning games late, their bullpen, in general, has really done a great job.”

“You get on a run like they are, that means you’re playing really good baseball. Since they’ve been on their run, I’m sure they feel really good about where they’re at, trying to get to the postseason, and that’s what we’re trying to do – two teams trying to accomplish the same thing.

A couple more things about The Bridge: A list of frequently asked questions was issued. We learned that the idea was the brainchild of NBC Sports reporter Brodie Brazil when he heard White Sox announcers Ken Harrelson and Steve Stone discussing Chicago’s Crosstown Cup. And, if the six-game regular-season series finishes tied, the winner of the last game is awarded the trophy.

The San Francisco skipper said it didn’t make a difference to him if the Giants and Athletics met before or after the All-Star break.

“It doesn’t matter to me when we play them,” Bochy said. “If anything, it keeps both teams at home around the break, so I suppose that’s a good thing.”

The A’s still manage to surprise many observers by hanging around the American League Wild Card race, while the Giants continue their quest to try keeping its key players healthy while trying to a) salvage their season and b) decide on being buyers or sellers at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

Oakland is faced with the same trade deadline decision. In recent years, the A’s have predictably been sellers. This year, speculation increases by the day that the Athletics may take the plunge and be buyers. Don’t bet on it, but the thought is intriguing.

The starting pitchers for Friday’s game couldn’t be more contrasting. Madison Bumgarner, despite the injuries that have plagued him the last couple of seasons, is still the ace of the Giants’ staff. Oakland counters with well-traveled Edwin Jackson, recently rescued from baseball’s scrap heap to not only play for his record-tying 13th team–he’s 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA.

A pitching duel ensued over the first three innings before San Francisco manufactured a run in the fourth, aided by a balk committed by Jackson. The A’s answered with a two-out solo home run by Chad Pinder to tie the game at 1-1.

As Bumgarner continued to mow down the A’s, San Francisco surged ahead 2-1 in the sixth on Buster Posey’s run-scoring single. But the Athletics weren’t quite finished.

Oakland loaded the bases and chased Bumgarner in the seventh. But Giants reliever Reyes Moranta retired Chad Pinder, Jonathan Lucroy and pinch-hitter Nick Martini in order to snuff out the rally. A defensive gem by Pablo Sandoval at third helped prevent further damage, when he snared Jonathan Lucroy’s sharp line drive.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Giants loaded the bases against the Oakland bullpen and capitalized with a two-RBI double by Steven Duggar to break the game open. When the dust settled, San Francisco batted around and took a 7-1 lead, which wound up as the final.

Fun stuff. And there’s five more of these. The winner gets a trophy.