Category: MLB

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: A’s take advantage of Giants struggling bullpen; A’s close out two game series tonight in Arizona

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Oakland Athletics’ Chad Pinder, right, celebrates with Sean Murphy (12) after hitting a two-run home run off San Francisco Giants’ Wandy Peralta in the fifth inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1  The A’s went on a tear against the San Francisco Giants over the weekend that included two comeback wins with home runs from Stephen Piscotty on Friday night for a grand slam that tied the game in the ninth and the eventual come back in the tenth and on Saturday Mark Canha hit the game winning home run to edge the Giants.

#2 The Giants bullpen has suffered through this series and they sent out catcher Tyler Heineman to pitch in relief who wound pitching a scoreless inning on Sunday using breaking pitches

#3 Once again the A’s slugged another one out against the Giants with a 15-3  laugher to close out the three game sweep at Oracle Park.

#4 One of the big reasons for the A’s success in the series is the Giants relievers have given up 23 home runs in 24 games and evidence of that is when they had to go to a position player Heineman for relief help.

#5 The win put the A’s 4.5 games in first place in the American League west with a 16-6 record the winningest record in MLB.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the A’s Spanish lead announcer on 1010 KIQI 1010 San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsadioservice.com

Giants’ Bullpen Blues: SF collapses in the ninth again, lose 7-6 to the Angels

Published on by moepea

San Francisco Giants left fielder Alex Dickerson, bottom, dives for a ball hit by Los Angeles Angels’ Tommy La Stella as third baseman Evan Longoria jumps out of the way during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Monday, Aug. 17, 2020 (AP News photo)

By Morris Phillips

After the seventh inning, the perfect ending had to have crossed manager Gabe Kapler’s mind.

Six consecutive outs and the Giants could end their four-game losing skid with Mike Trout standing in the on-deck circle unable to lift his Angels.

If only Kapler had the horses..

Instead Trevor Gott surrendered a game-ending, two-run homer to Tommy La Stella in a 7-6 Giants’ loss, their third via a ninth inning collapse in four games.

For Gott, his season has gone from delight to disaster: the reliever elevated to closer has allowed six, ninth inning home runs while his ERA has ballooned to 14.73.

“We’ll look for a softer landing spot for him. I think we’re going to need to figure out how to get his confidence back,” Kapler said of Gott.

For La Stella and the Angels, the win was the perfect tonic for ending a four-game skid in which they were overpowered by the A’s before getting swept by the Dodgers over the weekend. The win marked the first time in 11 games they had won after trailing initially. And yes, the game did end with Trout due up next, but the prospect of the Giants getting what they wanted, fueled La Stella.

“I just wanted to make sure I didn’t swing out of the zone, especially with Mike coming up next,” La Stella said.

Trout did his damage earlier with a solo shot in the third that tied the game, 2-2. The Angels’ superstar became the first slugger to reach 10 home runs this season, only to see San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. homer twice in their game against Texas to take the Major League lead with 11.

For the Giants, Trout’s homer off starter Tyler Anderson marked an ominous milestone, the 20th consecutive game the team’s pitching staff has allowed at least one home run, an ongoing franchise record.

The Giants led 2-0 after Brandon Belt’s homer in the first, then after they trailed 5-3, a three-run rally in the sixth gave them the lead again. Mike Yastrzemski’s two-run double scored Brandon Crawford and Mauricio Dubon to make it 6-5 Giants in the sixth.

Relievers Jarlin Garcia, Tyler Rogers and Tony Watson each pitched scoreless innings to get the Giants to the ninth with the lead. But Gott couldn’t hold it, striking out Brian Goodwin on three pitches, and allowing David Fletcher a bloop single before La Stella ended it.

Dylan Bundy, in search of his fourth win, will start for the Angels on Tuesday, opposed by Trevor Cahill for the Giants. Cahill served as a starter and reliever in 2019, his one and only season as a member of the Angels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peralta’s ninth-inning single lifts D-Backs past Athletics 4-3

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Arizona Diamondbacks David Peralta (6) celebrates his RBI walk-off base hit with teammates after a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks won 4-3. (AP Photo/Matt York)

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Monday, August 17, 2020

David Peralta’s run-scoring single with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Arizona Diamondbacks a 4-3 win over the visiting Oakand Athletics Monday in the first of a two-game series at Chase Field in Phoenix.

This was the Diamondbacks’ fifth consecutive win and ninth in their last 12 games, putting them above .500 for the first time in the shortened season. Oakland has MLB’s best record at 16-7.

Stefn Crichton (2-0) threw a scoreless ninth to get the win.

After Nick Ahmed led off the D-Backs ninth with a double off Oakland reliever Joakim Soria (1-1), Jake Diekman took over on the mound for the A’s. Kole Calhoun struck out, right before Ketel Marte singled to left, moving Ahmed to third.

Starling Marte was intentionally walked, loading the bases. With the outfield in, Peralta singled to right, scoring Ahmed.

Oakland tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the eighth. Matt Chapman’s sacrifice fly to right scored Vimael Machin, who singled and moved to third on Austin Allen’s double to right, cutting the Arizona lead to 3-2.

Ahmed’s error on Matt Olson’s grounder to short allowed Franklin Barreto – pinch-running for Allen – to score the tying run off D-Backs’ reliever Hector Rondon.

Robbie Grossman’s solo home run in the seventh inning put the A’s on the board after Arizona built a 3-0 lead.

The Diamondbacks scored twice in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Carson Kelly, preceded by Eduardo Escobar reaching on a fielder’s choice, driving in Peralta, who doubled.

Peralta opened the scoring for Arizona with a solo home run to right in the third inning off Athletics’ starter Chris Bassitt.

Bassitt surrendered three runs over 5 1/3 innings, with three strikeouts and three walks. Arizona starter Zac Gallen gave up one earned run in seven innings, with eight strikeouts and one walk.

The short series concludes Tuesday with a pitching matchup of right-handers – Frankie Montas (2-1, 1.57) for Oakland against the D-Backs’ Luke Weaver (0-3, 11.85).

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: After losing two in the late innings where is SF’s confidence?; Will Giants shop Cueto?

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Johnny Cueto, left, briefly talks with Los Angeles Dodgers’ Joc Pederson after Pederson flew out to end the third inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 8, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 Morris going into Anaheim and having lost the series to the Oakland mostly by late inning heroics by the A’s how much does that devalue the team’s confidence?

#2 The way you see it was this a matter of the Giants bullpen just failing or was it just bad pitch selection on pitches to Stephen Piscotty for his grand slam Friday to tie the game and to Mark Canha for his homer on Saturday?

#3 How bad is this Giants team collapsing a five run lead in the ninth inning and Giants pitcher Trevor Gott who gave up the game winning three run homer for the go ahead eventual winner.

#4 Morris how soon is practical for the Giants to bring up catcher Joey Bart who has been in training camp with the Sacramento Rivercats. Bart is close to being promoted but the Giants wanted to take a cautious approach to his promotion but fans and players are calling for him to come up to the show.

#5 There has been talk that Giants starter Johnny Cueto’s latest success might give him some trade value, Cueto had a great start on Friday before reaching his pitch count and nearly threw a no hitter against the Dodgers Sat Aug 8th.

Morris joins Sportstalk for the Giants podcasts on Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

No Doubt Clout: A’s sweep the Giants, win 15-3 with thunderous home run display

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

Normally, a trip to Oracle Park doesn’t prompt an offensive breakout. But these aren’t normal times: from protective masks, empty stadiums to overnight thunderstorms by the Bay, baseball in 2020 has a different rhythm.

The A’s undoubtedly have caught that rhythm. And they’re not a normal team, in fact, through 22 games of a two-month season, they’re exceptional.

Friday and Saturday, the A’s were merely good when they absolutely had to be, winning with a pair of epic, ninth inning rallies. On Sunday, they were fabulous from first pitch to last, drubbing the Giants 15-3 behind 17 hits, nine of which went for extra bases including a pair of massive homers.

“For a while we were winning close games, getting big hits and the pitching was ruling the day,” manager Bob Melvin said. “It seems the bats have woken up some.”

Melvin said woken, Oakland fans might say hella woke after Chad Pinder–first pitch swinging in a pinch-hitting role–touched off a three-homer, fifth inning with a majestic bomb that left the park traveling at 112 mph.

The reaction from the Oakland dugout to the crack of the bat reverberating through a near-silent ballpark? Priceless.

The cheers from Pinder’s fast reacting teammates almost seem verbalized, as in “I’ve seen home runs, but not like this..”

Pinder entered a 2-2 game, as Giants’ starter Logan Webb departed, and manager Gabe Kapler summoned lefty reliever Wandy Peralta to face Tony Kemp. Melvin played a hunch that the righty-hitting Pinder could incite a rally. The manager’s intuition–as often happens with hot clubs–was spot on. Pinder’s two-run shot led to a nine-run outburst that put the game away.

After Pinder struck, Mark Canha tripled home two runs, Stephen Piscotty hit a three-run shot, and Marcus Semien add a two-run blast. Incredibly, Piscotty’s homer measured thirty feet further than Pinder’s, and one-hopped the bleachers’ concourse.

“Not even in batting practice have I seen a ball go up there,” Melvin said afterwards via Zoom chat. “It looked like it was headed for the glove (yes, the giant-sized, leather glove above the concourse).”

Mike Fiers went six innings, allowing seven hits and two runs, and picked up the win. His 91-pitch effort was his lengthiest to date.

The A’s have won 13 of 15 after a 2-4 start to the season. Their 16-6 record is the best in the Majors.

Are they the best team in baseball? Maybe, maybe not, but they certainly looked like it in sweeping the Giants.

NOTES: Through 22 games, the A’s are a statistical conundrum that makes perfect sense when combined with these two facts: they don’t have any significant injuries, and after winning 95 games in back-to-back seasons with that group returning almost intact, they have more confidence-building experience than their opponents, especially on offense.

When have the A’s been able to say either of those two statements?

Now the conundrum: the A’s entered Sunday with a .219 team batting average, which ranked them 14th in the American League, ahead of only Cleveland (.196!!). But the A’s have drawn 92 walks (3rd in the AL), and been hit by a pitch 17 times (1st).

A dramatic juxtaposition indeed, the walks and hit batters keep the A’s above water despite their anemic batting average. But here’s an even more startling statistical twist.

The A’s have struck out 221 times in 22 games, more than 10 times a game, and the second most in baseball behind only the Braves, who struck out 16 times in their 4-0 win over Miami on Sunday.

Balancing those strikeouts? The A’s have hit 35 home runs, more than three for every two games played, a high number of which have come late in games to either tie, lead or win.

And making all those disparate offensive numbers sing? The A’s pitching staff has compiled a 3.49 ERA, fifth best in baseball, and a number almost a full run lower than the MLB average (4.41). When you have to wait a full nine innings for an offense to kick in, you need a pitching staff that keeps you in the game. The A’s staff does that.

A’s-Giants series numbers for the A’s offensively: 29 strikeouts (14 on Saturday), 35 hits (17 on Sunday), nine home runs (multiple homers in an inning, once in each of the three games), 15 walks (five off starter Logan Webb, who departed in the fifth inning on Sunday).

 

 

 

 

 

SF Giants game wrap: Break out the brooms for the A’s in 15-3 victory

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Oakland Athletics’ Stephen Piscotty, right, swings for a three-run home run off San Francisco Giants’ Dereck Rodriguez in the fifth inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Well, the Oakland A’s did not have to come back on the San Francisco Giants in the series finale of the Bay Bridge Series.

Chad Pinder hit a pinch-hit two-run home run off of Wandy Peralta on the first pitch that Peralta threw in the top of the fifth inning, as the A’s completed a three-game series sweep with a 15-3 victory over the Giants at Oracle Park.

The 15 runs are the most scored by the A’s at Oracle Park and the second most ever scored against the Giants, following the 16 runs that they scored on June 26, 2005 in a 16-0 shutout by the A’s over the Giants, who got only one hit on that afternoon, when Deivi Cruz singled off of Rich Harden in the fifth inning.

The Pinder home run, his third pinch-hit home run of his career landed more than three-quarters up the left-field bleachers that gave the A’s the lead for good.

Sean Murphy walked to lead off the inning with a walk, and Marcus Semien popped out for the first out of the inning, Gabe Kapler decided that it was enough for Logan Webb and he was replaced by Peralta, who promptly gave up the long home run to Pinder.

Both Matt Chapman and Matt Olson both singled, and then Saturdays hero, Mark Canha drove in both Chapman and Olson, as he tripled into the right-center gap.

Peralta was then replaced by Dereck Rodriguez, who got Khris Davis to pop out to Brandon Belt at first base for the second out of the inning, but Stephen Piscotty hit a three-run home run that landed at the base of the Coca-Cola bottle, clearing the bleachers.

The hit parade continued, as Murphy, who led off the inning with a walk, doubled in his second at bat of the inning and Semien made it a nine-run inning, when he launched a two-run home run of his own. Pinder then made it two hits in the inning, as he singled and then the inning finally came to a screeching halt, as Chapman was robbed of a hit by Alex Dickerson in left field.

Webb was tagged with the loss, as he went 4.1 innings, allowing three runs on three hits, while walking five and striking out five.

Peralta did not retire a batter, as he gave up five runs on four hits and walked one before giving way to Rodriguez, who gave up three runs (two home runs) on four hits in his first two-thirds work on the afternoon.

Mike Fiers went six innings, as he went gave up two runs on seven hits, walked one and struck out four on his way to his second win of the season.

Davis gave the A’s an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, as he grounded into a double play against Webb that scored Olson from third base. Olson picked up his first single of the season, as he singled in front of Mauricio Dubon in center field, Canha and Robbie Grossman then walked to load the bases prior to the Davis double play.

Brandon Belt tied up the game in the bottom of the second inning, as he lined his second home run of the season onto the arcade in right field.

Chapman gave the A’s the lead once again in the top of the third inning, as he doubled into the gap in right-center field to score Tony Kemp from first base and Chapman moved up an extra 90 feet, when Dubons throw went awry for an error.

Mike Yastrzemski tied up the game in the bottom of the third, as his blooper landed just beyond the reach of Chapman at third base that scored Brandon Crawford and that would be the score until the A’s broke the game wide open with a nine-run fifth inning.

Piscotty drove in two more runs in the top of the sixth inning, as he doubled to score Olson and Davis.

The five runs batted in for Piscotty tied a career high set versus the Boston Red Sox on April 4, 2019 at the Coliseum.
Crawford led off the bottom of the seventh inning by his hitting his first home run of the season, against A’s reliever James Kaprielian, who was making his major-league debut for the As.
Donovan Solano saw his 17-game hitting streak come to a halt, as he took the collar on the afternoon, as he went 0-for-5; however, he still hitting .408 on the season.

With one last chance to get a hit to extend the streak, Solano grounded out to end the game.

NOTES: This is the first time that the A’s have swept the Giants in San Francisco since June 13-15, 2008 and the first sweep over the Giants since June 17-19, 2011.

With three more home runs allowed on the afternoon, the Giants have allowed 39 home runs on the season, and at least one in 19 consecutive games, extending their team record. The Diamondbacks have given up a major league high 46 on the season.

UP NEXT: Neither the Giants nor the Los Angeles Angels have announced their starters for the beginning of their two-game series that begins on Monday night at Anaheim Stadium.

Headline Sports podcast with Daniel Dullum: Lightning, Coyotes and Bruins moving up; Sun perfect but have their bubble bursted; plus more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

The Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Karpisalo (70) gets in front of the puck as Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point (21) and the Jackets center Boone Jenner (38) look for the puck in game 3 of the third period Sat Aug 15, 2020 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. (Nathan Dennette/Canadian Press via AP)

On Headline Sports with Daniel:

1 From under the NHL bubbles: Action picks up in East and West, big wins for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Arizona Coyotes, and  Boston Bruins.

2 Bruins star goalie Tukka Rask opts out of playoffs

3 NBA: Suns are 8-0 in the bubble, fall short of making playoffs; Divac steps down as Kings GM, Dumars takes over

4 Dominoes fall: Pac-12, Big 10 cancel fall sports, NCAA cancels fall championships

5 Reds-Pirates game postponed after Reds player tests positive for Covid-19; 32 postponements in 60-game schedule

6 L.A. Kings suspend mascot actor after sexual harassment lawsuit

Daniel does Headline Sports podcasts every other Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s game wrap: Canha Can home run gets A’s back from behind 7-6 in SF

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Oakland Athletics’ Mark Canha (20) runs the bases after hitting a three run homerun off San Francisco Giants’ Trevor Gott in the ninth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Barbara Mason

We are just barely catching our breaths after last night’s thrilling come from behind extra inning win by Oakland when the team was back at it in game two of the Battle of the Bay Series.

There was not much rest for either team, however, the tenth inning was quickly played giving both teams a bit of a rest this morning. Last night’s game was a thriller, one that doesn’t come around everyday. Trailing by as much as six runs, the A’s tied up the game in the ninth inning off a grand slam by Stephen Piscotti. The final score was 8-7 in favor of Oakland.

Saturday afternoon the team was looking for another win in the absence of Ramon Laureano who has been suspended for four games because of the fracas last Monday. It is a tough loss for Oakland but the team has players that are more than capable of filling the position vacated by Laureano. He will be back on the field Tuesday afternoon against Arizona.

Starting pitcher Sean Manea is hoping to get back on track. It’s been a bit of a struggle for Manea who has admitted that he has had some pretty bad outings. He has started out strong in a number of games and seems to just fall apart after 3 or 4 innings. He did it against the Angels and the Mariners as well. The Giants would have Kevin Gausman on the mound to start the game.

After two uneventful innings Marcus Semien hit his first home-run of the season and with Machin already on base the A’s had a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Vimael Machin had his first hit as an A coming to the club from the Phillies.

In the bottom of the fourth the Giants would put two on base with no outs and the dangerous Yastrzemski would come to bat. He verified just how dangerous he is, hitting a deep ball which was mishandled by Piscotti allowing three runs to score. Just like that the Giants had taken the lead 3-2. Manea had begun to crumble. He was able to get out of the inning without further damage.

It was a nice one, two and three outs inning for Manea in the bottom of the fifth. This was a milestone for him going five innings. He stumbled in the fourth inning but closed the fifth out nicely which is very good news for the A’s.

In the top of the 6th inning Matt Olson would hit a homer to tie the game at 3. Burch Smith would take over on the mount for the A’s in the bottom of the sixth inning. It was a first, second and third innings for Smith who has been very good for Oakland and it was on to the 7th inning.

Tyler Roberts would take the mound for San Francisco in the seventh. Roberts dismissed the A’s and Burch Smith would be facing Longoria who doubled to deep left followed by Flores who singled to deep right and the Giants had runners on the corners with one out. Darren Ruf would hit a home run, his first, bringing in three runs and a 6-3 lead for San Francisco. That would be it for Smith with Lou Trevino taking over with 2 outs. Trevino would finish off the inning with no additional damage.

Mark Canha would hit a leadoff double to start the eighth inning just missing a home run. The A’s couldn’t get anything else going and the Giants would bring Solano, Yastrzemski and Longoria to start the bottom of the eighth inning. The Giants as well couldn’t get anything going and the A’s would have one last shot. Would there be another miracle in the 9th inning for Oakland?

Sean Murphy would start the ninth inning with a home run and the score was now 6-4 in favor of the Giants. Kemp would hit a double to keep Oakland’s hopes alive. With 2 outs and Kemp on third base, Matt Olson was the last hope for the A’s. An intentional walk would put Olson on 1st base with Marc Canha at bat. Canha would hit a homer to give the A’s another ninth inning comeback now leading 7-6.

The A’s hopes now rode on closer extraordinaire Liam Hendriks who would face Pence, Crawford and Dickerson. Oakland would dispose of Pence and Crawford. Dickerson would walk and the tying run was on base. Dubon would pop fly out and another miracle for the Oakland A’s winning the last 12 of their 14 games. And it was good night yet one more time for the San Francisco Giants.

 

Giants game wrap: Canha supplies the heroics in the ninth; Another A’s come back 7-6

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Oakland Athletics’ Mark Canha (20) runs the bases after hitting a three run homerun off San Francisco Giants’ Trevor Gott in the ninth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Does it bear repeating that the ninth inning for the San Francisco Giants over the first two games of this three-game series have been a nightmare.

Mark Canha hit three-run home run on a 3-2 pitch with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, as the Oakland A’s came back to defeat the Giants 7-6 at Oracle Park.

Canhas home run came off of Trevor Gott, who gave up Stephen Piscottys game-tying grand slam on Friday night that tied up the game.

Gott looked shaky in his 0.2 innings of work, as he gave up a lead-off home run to Sean Murphy on the first pitch, then after Marcus Semien popped out for the first out of the inning, Tony Kemp doubled to centerfield, Gott then retired Matt Chapman on a lineout to Hunter Pence for the second out; however, Matt Olson then walked and then Canha launched his three-run home run that gave the A’s the lead for good.

Darin Ruf, who spent the last few seasons in South Korea, playing in the Korean Baseball Organization, hit a three-run home run off of Burch Smith in the bottom of the seventh inning,

Asides from Ruf, the star of the day was Kevin Gausman, who despite the fact that he did not fare in the decision, pitched a great game.

Gausman went 5.2 innings, allowing three runs on five hits, walked three and struck out a career-high 11 along the way.

The A’s, who scored the final six runs in a memorable 8-7 win on Friday night got to Gausman in the top of the third inning, as Marcus Semien hit a two-run home run to give the A’s a 2-0 lead. Also, scoring on the Semien home run, his second of the season, Vimael Machin, who picked up his first major league hit.

Mike Yastrzemski gave the Giants the lead in the bottom of the third inning in the very unconventional way, as he tripled to right field that scored Austin Slater and Donovan Solano, and Yastrzemski scored, as Semiens throw bounced into the dugout for a throwing error.

Matt Olson, whose last seven hits were all home runs made it 8-for-8, as he homered for the eighth time this season, a solo home run that landed on the netting in straightaway center field.

Solano extended his career-high hitting streak up to 17 games, as he singled in four at-bats in the game and is now batting a robust .433 on the season.

Evan Longoria got the seventh inning rally started, as he doubled to lead off the inning, then Wilmer Flores singled him to third, then after Hunter Pence struck out for the first out of the inning, Ruf planted a Smith pitch into the left field bleachers to give the Giants the lead.

T.J. McFarland struck out the only batter he faced to pick up the win for the A’s, his second win of the season, while Liam Hendricks, despite the fact that he allowed a walk to pinch hitter Alex Dickerson was able to get Dubon to pop out to Kemp for the final out and the A’s won for the second day in a row in dramatic fashion.

NOTES: By allowing four more home runs on the afternoon, the Giants opponents have now hit 36 home runs on the season, the second most in the major leagues behind division rival, the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have allowed 43 coming into the game.

The Giants have now allowed home runs in 18-consecutive games, the longest streak in franchise history, this according to STATS, LLC.

Last night was the Giants’ first loss after leading by five or more runs in the ninth inning or later since June 25, 1929 vs. Brooklyn (led 10-5, lost 12-10 in ten innings). according to Stats, LLC, the Giants had won their last 2,133 games when leading by five-plus runs in the 9th or later before last night, the longest such streak in the modern era.

UP NEXT: Logan Webb will take the mound in the finale of the series on Sunday afternoon, while the As have not yet announced their starter.

Oakland A’s game wrap: Giants six run lead collapses; A’s come back in the tenth 10th 8-7

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Oakland Athletics’ Stephen Piscotty (25) celebrates after hitting a grand slam off San Francisco Giants’ Trevor Gott in the ninth inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 14, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

The Oakland A’s Stephen Piscotty played heroics with a ninth inning tying home run after the San Francisco Giants held a 6-0 lead and watched it collapsed after the A’s scored five runs to tie the game up 7-7 thanks to Piscotty’s grand slam.

The A’s would go onto win it 8-7 after Mark Canha hit a fly to right fielder Hunter Pence for a sacrafice to score Matt Chapman from third for the game winner. Oakland A’s starter Frankie Montas was scheduled for the start but was scratched for replacement starter Jesus Luzardo who get scalded when the Giants scored a run in the first followed by three runs in the second and two in the third to take a 6-0 lead early in the game.

Luzardo lasted just 3.1 innings surrendering nine hits and six earned runs the Giant picked up their seventh run in the eighth inning when Mike Yastrzemski belted a solo home run for 394 feet to center left to give the Giants a two run lead. Yastrzemski’s home run was off A’s releiver TJ McFarland.

With the A’s trailing by five runs going to the top of the ninth 7-2 the A’s Matt Olson slugged a home run to center to make it 7-3 off Giants reliever Trevor Gott. Gott than loaded the bases with Khris Davis, Robbie Grossman, Mark Canha on board Piscotty went deep 365 feet to left field and the A’s tied the ball game at 7-7. Later to win it in the tenth on a sac fly by Canha scoring Chapman.

Winning pitcher for the A’s Joakim Soria now 2-0 and an ERA 0.00, losing pitcher for the Giants Jarlin Garcia 0-1 ERA 0.00.

Saturday night’s starters at Oracle Park for the Oakland A’s Frankie Montas (2-1 ERA 1.57) who suffered upper back tightness on Friday night will start on Saturday and for the Giants Kevin Gausman (0-1 ERA 4.05). Gausman last pitched Sunday Aug 9th against the Dodgers in LA and got a quality start of 6.1 innings of one run baseball. First pitch tonight 4:07pm