San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija works in the first inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
By Jeremy Kahn
OAKLAND-Jeff Samardzija gave the San Francisco Giants bullpen a much-deserved rest, and he dominated his former team, the Oakland A’s.
It was a great night on the hill for Samardzija, as he went eight innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking just two and striking out five and the Giants defeated the A’s 10-4 before a crowd of 38,871 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
“It’s great to see. It’s who we think we are on a consistent basis,” Samardzija said. “That’s the Giants team we know we are. We’ll keep going at it and keep working. We’ve got a handful of games here along the way to get better and really see what we’re made of.”
Kelby Tomlinson got the ball rolling on the score board, as he singled to right field to score Gorkys Hernandez for the first of the five runs that the Giants would score in the inning.
After Brandon Belt reached on a Yonder Alonso fielding error, the flood gates opened for the Giants, as Buster Posey singled to right field to score Tomlinson and Belt advanced to third base.
A’s starting pitcher Sean Manaea finally was able to record an out, as he got Brandon Crawford to ground into a force play that scored Belt from third base.
It was a short night for Manaea, who went just three innings, allowing six runs (two of them earned) on nine hits, walking one and striking out one.
Nick Hundley drove in the final two runs of the inning, as he slammed a two-run home run into the left field bleachers to give the Giants their most runs in the first inning since the 2014 season.
In all, Manaea threw 40 pitches in that fateful first inning that saw the Giants bat around, as they scored five runs on five hits.
“It was nice. I can’t tell you the last time we scored five in the first,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “(Things) haven’t gone well, but the offense has really done a pretty good job.”
Alonso got the A’s on the board in the bottom of the first inning, as he singled to centerfield to score Marcus Semien. It could have been more, but Matt Joyce was thrown out at third base by Hundley after he doubled to lead off the inning against Samardzija.
Posey picked up his second hit in as many at-bats in the second inning, as he doubled to left field to score Belt, who singled with one out in the inning.
The A’s narrowed the lead down to 6-2 in the bottom of the second inning, as Matt Chapman walked, went to third on a Samardzija throwing error and then scored on a Joyce sacrifice fly.
Belt led off the top of the fourth inning with his 17th home run of the season, just one shy of his career high of 18 that was set during the 2015 season.
Joyce got some sort of redemption in the bottom of the fifth inning, as he hit a two-run home run. It was the 14th home run of the season for Joyce.
That would be the closest that the A’s would get, as Hunter Pence hit his eighth home run of the season, a three-run shot off of A’s reliever Michael Brady. It was the eighth home run of the season away from AT&T Park.
NOTES: With the Bay Bridge Series moving to San Francisco, the Giants will send Matt Moore to the mound, while the A’s will send Daniel Gossett to the mound.
The 35 games that the Giants trail the Los Angeles Dodgers is the largest deficit that the Giants have trailed a first-place team since they trailed the 1946 St. Louis Cardinals.
Mark Melancon started for Triple-A Sacramento on Sunday, and pitched one inning and threw 15 pitches, including a walk and induced an inning-ending double play. Johnny Cueto was forced to leave his rehab start for San Jose to a tight right forearm. Prior to leaving the game, Cueto went three innings and threw 34 pitches.
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