Tag: San Francisco Giants

San Francisco Giants podcast Part II with Michael Duca: Dubon might be the second bagger that the Giants have been looking for

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mercurynews.com photo: San Francisco Giants second baseman Mauricio Dubon swings at a third inning pitch. In the second inning Dubon picked up his first big league hit of his career Thursday night against the San Diego Padres at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

On the Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 San Francisco second baseman Mauricio Dubon is the player the Giants just might be looking for at second. On Thursday night at Oracle Park, he made a great defensive stop at second for a put out in the second inning.

#2 Dubon also got his first big league hit with shot down the right field line, which he got the retrieved ball for a souvenir.

#3 Dubon had also studied a lot of film on the key stone combination of Giant shortstop Brandon Crawford and former Giants second baseman Joe Panik. Dubon showed his handy work on a 1-4-3 double play. Dubon is showing that he brought some skills up from the minors.

#4 After having such a great rookie year last season, Giants pitcher Derek Rodriguez struggled. Rodriguez gave up two home runs to the Pads on Thursday night and manager Bruce Bochy might rethink having Rodriguez in the rotation and Derek might find his way back in the bullpen.

#5 This will be the last September for call-ups. Next season, the roster will be kept down to 26. What will that feel like and was it a mistake to take away the 40-man call-up roster in September next season?

Michael Duca does the Giants podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants fall to Padres 5-3

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Photo credit: @Padres

By Lewis Rubman

San Diego: 5 | 8 | 0

San Francisco: 3 | 8 | 0

SAN FRANCISCO — The 65-67 Giants opened a four-game series at Oracle Park hoping to inch back to the .500 mark against the lackluster Padres.

San Diego sent rookie Chris Paddack, arguably their best starter, to the mound. Paddack’s traditional statistics, 7-7, 3.84 ERA were mediocre enough, but so was his team’s won and lost record of 61-71, which put them in fourth place in the five team NL West Division. And Paddack has some eye-catching advanced statistics. Going into the game, he could boast of a WHIP of 1.03 and had struck out 121 batters in 117 1/3 innings, while walking only 27, all the while holding opposing batters to a measly on OPS of .668. The tall righty throws the traditional pitchers’ repertoire of fast ball, curve ball, and change of pace, the first and last more frequently than the curve. He hadn’t much of a chance to display his talents in his previous start, a disaster in which he surrendered six runs to the Red Sox in 2 1/3 innings. He sure showed them tonight.

Giants starter, Dereck Rodríguez, toed the rubber, dragging a record of 5-6, 5.26 ERA behind him but still, I assume, hoping to regain the form that had made him so exciting in his rookie 2018 season. D-Rod’s pitching in the opening frame gave the Giants’ rookie second baseman, Mauricio Dubón, making his major league debut, a chance to strut his defensive stuff as the two combined to turn a nifty 1-4-3 double play on Manny Machado to close out the inning. In the Pads’ next turn at bat, Dubón was even more impressive, robbing Wil Myers of a single with a diving grab of the San Diego right fielder’s shot behind second base and a bullet-like throw to first. Mike Yaztremski then stole a single from Luis Urías with another diving catch, this one of a sinking liner to short right.

Rodríguez’s stretch of being saved by brilliant fielding came to an end in the top of the third. With one out, Paddack sent a slow hopper to short that he would have beaten out even if Brandon Crawford could have handled it cleanly, which he didn’t. Then Manuel Margot launched a 2-0 four seamer into the left center field bleachers, and the Giants were looking up at a two-run San Diego lead. Doubles by Josh Naylor and Eric Hosmer to left and right center, respectively stretched the deficit to three.

Yaztremski came close to committing larceny a second time when he dove for Urías’s falling fly just in front of the 309 foot sign and just inside the right field foul line. The result was Urías’s first career triple and the prelude to Austin Hedges’ home run to left, his 10th of the season, upping the Padres’ lead to 5-0.

The worm finally turned a tiny bit against Paddack in the home fourth. After Yaztremski led off by striking out, making it 10 consecutive Giants that Paddack had dispatched since he threw his first pitch of the game, Brandon Belt blasted a change up into McCovey Cove, and the Giants were on the board. That’s only a figure of speech; the main scoreboard showed lots of pictures but no in- game statistics until a Wil Myers thumb nail made a cameo appearance in the top of the ninth.

Dubón laced his first hit in the bottom of the fifth, a one-out single to right that sent Kevin Pillar from first to third. But Rodríguez struck out and Yaztremski flew out to left, leaving the Padres still ahead 5-1 after five innings of play. Those five innings were enough for Rodríguez, who was removed and replaced by Jandel Gustave at the start of the sixth. Rodríguez had thrown 72 pitches (49 strikes). All five of the runs allowed were earned, and they came on eight hits. He struck out three batters and yielded no walks, a slight consolation. Gustave followed him with two innings of perfect relief before giving way to the veteran Fernando Abad for the eighth. He, too, hurled a perfect frame.

After pitching seven outstanding innings, in which he threw 92 pitches (67 strikes) and surrendered only one run (earned) on five hits and no walks while striking out eight, Paddack was replaced by lefty Matt Strahm.

Strahm’s work was not outstanding, but it was serviceable. He gave up singles to pinch hitters Donovan and Joey Richard and a walk to Belt to load thee bases with nobody out. Bu then he induced Evan Longoria to hit into a run scoring 5-4-3 double play and got Alex Dickerson out on a fly ball to Manuel Margot in left center.

Sam Coonrod retired the Friars on two called strike outs interspersed by a hit batter, Myers, who promptly was thrown out stealing.

It was left to Andrés Muñoz to defend San Diego’s 5-2 lead in the ninth. He struck Posey out on a full count. Then he K’d Pilar. Crawford walked on a 3-2, 99 mph four-seamer and advanced to second on a wild pitch with Stephen Vogt, pinch-hitting for Coonrod, at-bat. Vogt brought Crawford home on a double to right, closing the scoring gap to 5-3. But Donovan grounded out to short to end the game. Muñoz broke 100 mph several times in his inning of relief.

Paddack got the well-deserved win and Muñoz, the exciting save. The loss went to Rodríguez. None of the Giants’ relievers allowed a run.

At 65-68, San Francisco is seven games behind in the race to be the second wild card team. Their elimination number is 23.

The probable starters for Friday night’s contest will be right-hander Dinelson Lamet (2-2, 4.30 ERA) for San Diego with left-hander Madison Bumgarner (8-8, 3.71 ERA) going for the home team.

Time for Giants’ young players to get a look

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Photo credit: sfexaminer.com

By Jeremy Harness

Slowly but surely, the chances of sneaking into the postseason in the National League have slipped away for the Giants. The back-to-back losses to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday and Tuesday seemed to solidify that fact.

At this point, the Giants have decided that it’s about time to give their young prospects a taste of the major leagues, and to see what they can do going forward.

On Tuesday, the Giants released second baseman Scooter Gennett, whom they had acquired at the trade deadline but, other than a brief road trip to Colorado, never really got going. He hit only .234 during a stint that lasted slightly less than a month.

In the process, the team called up right-handed reliever Tyler Rogers, a 28-year old who has a side-winding delivery that features his knuckles coming within inches of scraping the mound, from Triple-A Sacramento.

Coming to Oracle Park with him is infielder Mauricio Dubon, whom the Giants have high hopes for and also grew up a huge Giants fan. He originally came to the Giants organization days before the deadline from Milwaukee when starter Drew Pomeranz and reliever Ray Black were dealt to the Brewers.

He is expected to get plenty of starts at second base and will share time with emerging infielder Donovan Solano, who can also play shortstop to spell Brandon Crawford.

The Giants are now 65-67 and are now in third place in the National League West, and they have slipped to six games back in the wild-card race.

The Giants will host the San Diego Padres, a team that has long forgotten about the postseason despite high expectations going into the 2019 season, for a four-game series that starts tomorrow night.

D-backs win 3-2, stick fangs into Giants once again

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Photo credit: @Dbacks

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — It seems that the Arizona Diamondbacks turned Oracle Park into Chase Field Northwest.

Adam Jones singled in Christian Walker in the top of the sixth inning, helping the Diamondbacks to a 3-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants before a crowd of 28,262 at Oracle Park. This season, the Diamondbacks went 7-2 at Oracle Park.

The Jones single was the third consecutive for the Diamondbacks, as Walker led off the inning with a single, then Jake Lamb followed up with a single and then Jones singled in Walker with one of his own.

Ketel Marte tied up the game in the top of the fifth inning, as he launched a solo home run off of Giants starter Jeff Samardzija. Marte was forced to leave the game, as he was injured during his home run trot.

Marte left the game due to a cramp in his right hamstring.

Former Giants pitcher Mike Leake evened up his record on the season at 10-10, as he went 7.1 innings, allowing two runs, scattering four hits, walking one and two strikeouts.

Samardzija went just five innings, allowing one run on three hits, walking just one and striking out three and did not fare in the decision.

The Giants took a quick 1-0 lead on Leake, as Brandon Belt singled with one out, stole second and went to third on an Alex Avila throwing error. Belt scored on a Stephen Vogt single into right field.

Walker put the game out of reach in the top of the 7th inning, as he singled off of Sam Coonrod, to score Tim Locastro, who walked with one out and stole second to get himself into scoring position and then the scored on the Walker single.

Tyler Rogers made his major- league debut in the top of the 8th inning, as he retired the Diamondbacks in his first inning ever as a major leaguer. Rogers went one inning with all zeroes.

The Giants attempted to make a game in the bottom of the eighth inning, as Mike Yastrzemski walked with one out and then scored when Brandon Belts double went just out of the reach Jarrod Dyson in centerfield. Evan Longoria then walked; however, Alex Dickerson lined into a double play, as Ildmaro Vargas made a diving catch and then threw to Walker, to get Longoria with the final out of the inning.

NOTES: Joey Rickard and Mauricio Duhon were recalled from Sacramento prior to the game, while the team also selected Rogers from the Rivercats.

Rogers and his twin brother Taylor, who is the closer for the Minnesota Twins are the 10th pair of twins to play in the majors.

These are the nine sets of twins to put on major league uniforms.

* Canseco, Jose 1985 2001 Canseco, Ozzie 1989 1993 § Cliburn, Stan 1980 1980 Cliburn,
Stu 1984 1988
§ Edwards, Marshall 1981 1983 Edwards, Mike 1977 1980 § * Grimes, Ray 1920 1926 Grimes, Roy 1920 1920
§ Hunter, George 1909 1910 Hunter, Bill 1912 1912
§ * Jonnard, Bubber 1920 1935 Jonnard, Claude 1921 1929 § * Minor, Damon 2000 2004 Minor, Ryan 1998 2001
§ * O’Brien, Eddie 1953 1958 O’Brien, Johnny 1953 1959 § * Shannon, Joe 1915 1915 Shannon, Red 1915 1926
* both played in the same season at least once

Trevor Gott was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right elbow strain. Abiatal Avelino was optioned to Sacramento and Scooter Gennett was placed on unconditional release waivers.

Johnny Cueto went 4.1 innings, allowing four (three earned) runs on six hits, and striking out three in his third rehab start and first with the Rivercats.

UP NEXT: The Giants are off on Wednesday for the first time since August 28, 2008, and their last loss on August 28, came six years to the day in 2013, as they lost to the Colorado Rockies 5-4 at Coors Field.

Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason: Giants try to knot up series with Diamondbacks tonight; Gruden happy with quarterbacks in camp; plus more

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Photo credit: sfchronicle.com

On Headline Sports with Barbara Mason:

#1 The Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants Bay Bridge Series was expected to be a real Battle of the Bay since both teams are vying for a wild card birth. The Giants ended up winning the two-game series with a 10-6 win on Saturday and a 5-4 win on Sunday took a loss on Monday night in San Francisco to Arizona 6-4.

#2 The A’s had a breakdown in their bullpen in each of the two games. Frustration took hold when A’s reliever Ryan Butcher threw high and inside to Giants catcher Stephen Vogt, who hit the dirt. No warnings were drawn. Vogt hit a grand slam home-run off Butcher on Saturday and Vogt said he had his suspicions about Butcher’s pitch since he’s noted to have decent control.

#3 The Oakland Raiders quarterbacks have the confidence of Raiders head coach Jon Gruden. Gruden said starting quarterback Derek Carr, backups Mike Glennon and Nathan Peterman all had good preseasons and the Raiders are expected to come out of the gate strong. The Raiders head to Century Link in Seattle for the final pre season game against the Seahawks on Thursday Night Football.

#4 San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has a great outing in his last preseason game on Saturday night against the Kansas City Chiefs after having a tough preseason. Garoppolo threw for 14-20, 188 yards, and one touchdown. The 49ers host the San Diego Chargers on Thursday Night Football.

#5 Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, who announced his retirement from football over the weekend, said that it was not fun anymore waking up each day to pain, rehab, and more pain. It was repeat and repeat again. He at 29 year old said it’s unlikely he will return to the NFL.

Barbara Mason does Headline Sports each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Beede, Giants can’t avoid getting bit by the Snakes, Arizona takes series opener 6-4

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO — Three thousand at-bats into a now, surprisingly, lengthy big league career–and in the midst of a breakout season–Edwin Escobar wasn’t about to overlook the opportunity afforded him in the seventh inning on Monday.

Giants’ Trevor Gott was suddenly lifted by manager Bruce Bochy after it became apparent the pitcher was experiencing discomfort in his arm. That left rookie Shaun Anderson to pitch to Escobar with a 2-1 count that swung the proceedings wildly in the hitters’ favor.

Two pitches later, Anderson challenged Escobar with a fastball up and in, and he responded with a two-run single up the middle, the key hit in Arizona’s 6-4 win.

The Giants and Diamondbacks–both with the slightest of postseason hopes–conclude their season series Tuesday with a tie-breaking 19th contest and just a half-game separating the teams in the standings.

Escobar may have been the most prominent hitter in either lineup on Monday, a dramatic change in stature for the infielder who has bounced from the Twins to the White Sox and now the Diamondbacks in a 10-year career. But Escobar has seen his RBI totals increase in every season but one, to 103 this season after he delivered on Monday.

Besides Escobar, players on both sides did more taking away than delivering in a game that was greatly decided by mistakes. Tyler Beede pitched well in trying to end his month long streak without a win. The youthful starter mixed his pitches and hit his spots, but couldn’t close the door in the pivotal sixth inning. Beede’s wild pitch allowed Escobar to score from third, breaking a 1-1 tie.

“I thought he had all-around better stuff, command, and I thought he looked better out there tonight,” manager Bruce Bochy said of Beede.

Abiatal Avelino was the surprise starter in left field for the Giants, ahead of Alex Dickerson, and he delivered a run scoring hit that sliced Arizona’s lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth. But Avelino ran through third base coach Ron Wotus’ stop sign after Brandon Crawford singled, and was thrown out at the plate by a wide margin, preventing the Giants from adding on in the inning.

“He’s playing hard, and he didn’t see the stop sign,” Bochy said. “He just kept running, and ran us out of a chance at a big inning.”

The Diamondbacks landed on .500 for a remarkable 30th time this season with the win. The Giants fell below .500 after an encouraging weekend in Oakland brought them closer to the wild card leaders.

The teams conclude their brief, two-game series on Tuesday with veteran pitchers Mike Leake and Jeff Samardzija facing off.

Longoria gets 1,000th RBI in Giants win 5-4

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sfgate.com photo: San Francisco Giants’ Evan Longoria hits a two-run single against the Oakland Athletics during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Sunday,

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND-After the game Evan Longoria wore a vintage Chris Mullin Golden State Warriors jersey from the 1980s, and it was a vintage day for the third baseman.

Longoria hit a two-run single in the top of the seventh, as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Oakland As 5-4 before a crowd of 47,321 at the Coliseum.

It was a huge day for Longoria, who tied up the game in the top of the third inning, as he hit his 17th home run of the season and it was also the 1,000th RBI of his career.

Since returning from the injured list on August 4 with plantar fasciitis in his left foot, Longoria is 23-for-68 (.338) with two doubles, four home runs and 17 RBIs in 17 games.

With the victory, the Giants swept the two-game series, giving them the Bay Bridge Trophy, as they won the season series three games to one.

This was the 4,000th career game for Bruce Bochy, who became the just eighth manager in major league history to join this exclusive club. All seven managers in front of Bochy are all in the Hall of Fame.

Donovan Solano went four-for-four on the afternoon, as he also reached base on a walk. It was the second four hit game of the season, as he also did it on July 17 against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

The Giants final rally of the game began when Brandon Crawford reached on a Matt Olson fielding error to lead off the top of the seventh inning, Solano then reached for the fourth time in the game, as he walked on a 3-2 pitch. Mike Yastrzemski was then hit on the left hand to load the bases.

After an epic 11 pitch at-bat that Buster Posey strike out for the first out of the inning, Longoria singled thru the hole between second base and shortstop to score Crawford and Solano.

Unfortunately, the Giants ran themselves out of the inning, as Yastrzemski was caught stealing at third base.

Former As catcher Stephen Vogt, who hit a big three-run home run in Saturdays 10-5 victory gave the Giants a 1-0 lead, as he hit a sacrifice fly that scored Kevin Pillar from third base. Pillar led off the inning with a double high off the wall in left-center field.

After Brett Anderson was able to retire Austin Slater on a groundout to first base, and Pillar went to third. Vogt then hit a sacrifice fly to Mark Canha that scored Pillar from third base.

Brandon Belt then walked, then Crawford and then Solano made it 2-0, as he singled to score Belt.

Unfortunately for the Giants, that lead would not last long, as Canha took the first pitch he saw from Logan Webb over the fence for his 21st home run of the season.

Jurickson Profar then followed that up with a double, and then scored, as Corben Joseph made it three straight hits with a double of his own to tie up the game. Chad Pinder then gave the As the lead, as he was the fourth consecutive As batter to get a hit, when he singled to score Joseph.

Canha made it two home runs in as many at-bats, as he launched a solo home run over the left-center wall to give the As the lead for good.

It was a troublesome second career start for Webb, who grew up in Rocklin, as he went 4.2 innings, allowing four runs on six hits, two walks and two strikeouts.

Anderson went six innings, allowing three runs on six hits, walking three and striking out two; however, he did not fare in the decision.

It looked like the Giants won the game on a great defensive play from Pillar to Solano, when Josh Phegley was tagged out at second base; however, the call was overturned and then Will Smith was able to get Marcus Semien to ground out to Crawford to end the game.

Smith picked up his 30th save of the season, as he faced the final four batters of the game.

NOTES: Posey struck out for the second time in his career, as the first came earlier this season, when it occurred on against the New York Mets on July 18 at Oracle Park in a game that the Giants won 3-2 in 16 innings.

This was the first time that the Giants won back-to-back games at the Coliseum since September 26 and 27, 2015.

It was the also first series sweep by the Giants over the As since they swept them in three straight from July 24-26, 2015 at what was then called AT&T Park.

Once again, the Giants won a game by one run and it was their 30th win by one run on the season and are now 30-13 (.697).

UP NEXT: Tyler Beede opens up the six-game home stand on Monday night, as he faces the Arizona Diamondbacks at Oracle Park, while the Diamondbacks will send Alex Young to the mound.

MLB The Show Podcast with Matt Harrington: Giants need to sweep a lot of series to get wild card in their sights; Cervelli hooks up with Braves, feels no concussion issues; plus more

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photo from sfgate.com:  Scooter Gennett #14 of the San Francisco Giants turns a double play in the fourth inning against Nicholas Castellanos #6 of the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on August 22, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois.

On the MLB podcast with Matt:

#1 Last chance for the San Francisco Giants, who open a two-game road trip to Oakland and face the A’s. The A’s are rolling they have won eight out of their last ten games and are tied for second for a wild card spot with Cleveland.

#2 The Giants’ wild card chances are becoming distant they got swept in Chicago and are six games back of second for a shot at the wild card.

#3 The Atlanta Braves in need of catching after Brian McCann was injured with a sprained left knee and picked up former Pittsburgh Pirate Francisco Cervelli at the pro-rated minimum MLB salary at the pro-rated amount of $119,000. Cervelli, who had concussion issues, caught six games with Pittsburgh Triple-A affiliate Indianapolis without any signs recurring problems.

#4 In Los Angeles on Friday night at Dodger Stadium, the Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant and comedian Larry David both took in the Dodgers-Yankees game. It’s not too often you’ll see the two New Yorkers in the same place in LA, but they were the talk of the game.

#5 Can the Atlanta Brave Ronald Acuna Jr. get to 40-40? Right now, he has 30 homers and 30 steals with a month and a week left in the season. September could be an exciting month for Acuna Jr chasing down 40-40.

Matt does the MLB podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants crush A’s 10-5 in game three of the Bay Bridge Series 2

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
bb1
Graphic: @Athletics

by Charlie O. Mallonee

OAKLAND — The A’s literally snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory on Saturday night as they watched a 4-2 lead going into the top of the eighth inning be wiped out when the San Francisco exploded for eight runs on seven hits off five Oakland pitchers. It was simply a stunning rally that the A’s did not see coming.

For the Giants, it felt like they had pent up emotion and energy that just had to be released. Madison Bumgarner did his best to keep his team in the game to give them the chance to win. When the A’s pitching staff gave the Giants the slightest of openings, the men from across the Bay took the opportunity and did the most with it.

The Giants took game one (game 3 of 4 total) of the Bay Bridge Series in Oakland 10-5 on Saturday night before 56,367 fans who were treated their money’s worth for coming out to the ballpark. The Giants scored 10 runs off 13 hits and left six men on base. For the A’s, they put five runs up on the board on 10 hits while leaving 10 men on base and committing one error. The game took three hours and 50 minutes to complete.

The Giants record for the season improved to 64-65 with the victory while the A’s fell to 74-54 on the year. San Francisco is now 5.0 games out the second Wild Card spot in the National League. The A’s are 0.5 games behind the Rays for the second Wild Card slot in the American League.

In this type of game where 14 pitchers were used, determining the winning and losing pitcher is almost “voodoo” science. Sam Coonrod (3-0) gets credit for the win while Yusmeiro Petit(3-3) was tagged with the loss.

Neither starter figured into the final decision

Chris Bassitt pitched 5.2 innings for the A’s on Saturday night. The right-hander ran into some trouble as he started through the Giants order for the third time. He gave up a home run to Brandon Crawford on 0-1 pitch with two out in the top of the fifth inning. In the top of the sixth inning, Evan Longoria drove in Alex Dickerson from second base to tie the game at 2-2. That would be all for Bassitt as he was replaced on the mound by Jake Diekman.

Bassitt gave up two runs (both earned) off four hits (1 HR). He struck out five Giants and walked none. Bassitt threw 92 pitches (64 strikes).

Madison Bumgarner worked 5.0 innings for San Francisco in the contest. He also gave up two runs. The first run came off a leadoff home run by Mark Canha in the home half of the second inning that easily cleared the left-field fence. The A’s touched “Mad Bum” for another run in the bottom of the third inning.

Jurickson Profar walked to lead off the third for Oakland. Josh Phegley then singled to left field which moved Profar to second base. With one out, Matt Chapman hit a double to left that drove Profar in from second base to score the A’s second run of the game. The A’s took a temporary 2-0 at that point.

Bumgarner also gave up two runs (both earned) on two hits (1 HR). He struck five A’s and walked one. Bumgarner threw 97 pitches (64 strikes).

Did I just see a sacrifice?

Jurickson Profar was the leadoff hitter for the A’s in the bottom of the seventh, and he hit a double to right field. Catcher Josh Phegley then laid down a sacrifice bunt on the third-base side of the infield that moved Profar to third base (yes, everyone including the Giants was surprised). Marcus Semien followed up with an RBI single to left field. Matt Chapman singled to center sending Semien to third base. That would all for Giants reliever Jandel Gustave who would be replaced by Fernando Abad.

Matt Olson was the first Athletic to face Abad, and he hit a single to right that drove Semien home to score the fourth run of the game for Oakland. That would end the scoring for the A’s in the seventh inning and gave them a 4-2 lead, which proved to be not enough.

bb2
That’s a lot of fans! Graphic: @Athletics

Focus on the A’s

  • Mark Canha hit his 20th home run of the year off Bumgarner in the second inning of the game. He also extended his hitting streak to eight games.
  • The A’s now have five players with 20-plus home runs on the season: Canha (20), Chapman (29), Laureano (21), Olson (26), and Semien (22).
  • Oakland has a record of 22-11 versus left-handed starters in 2019.

Spotlight on the Giants

  • Brandon Crawford hit his 10th home run of the season in the win on Saturday night and his first home since July 15 at Colorado.
  • Kevin Pillar has hit safely in 13 of his last 16 games and is hitting .397 over that stretch.
  • Evan Longoria went 2-for-4 in the game, was hit-by-pitch and posted two RBI. He is hitting .347 since June 30.

Up next

The Bay Bridge Series concludes on Sunday afternoon at 1:07 PM at the Coliseum. The Giants will send rookie RHP Logan Webb (1-0, 1.80 era) to the hill to make his second start of the season. He made his major league debut last Saturday in Arizona picked up the win. Expect quite a few fans in the stands rooting for Webb who grew up in Rocklin just east of Sacramento.

The A’s will counter with LHP Brett Anderson (10-9, 4.06 era). Anderson has been having a rough go of things as he is 1-4 with a 5.02 ERA in his last five starts. Run support has been a big issue for Anderson. The A’s have provided three runs or fewer in 14 of his last 17 starts. Anderson was the losing pitcher in the game with the Giants in San Francisco on August 13.

Player’s Weekend Uni’s

The black and white themed uniforms created an interesting effect on the field Saturday night. It was really a throwback feel. In fact, I felt like I was watching the movie “Eight Men Out” at times.

I really liked the all-black uniforms the Giants wore as the visiting team. They were as the guy says in the SUV commercial — “sharp!”. The all-white worn by the A’s were had a very clean look, but the lettering and numerals were washed out. If they had outlined the lettering and numbers in black, the home uniforms would have been “sharp”.

The A’s pitchers did wear black hats because it was determined that the hitters were having trouble picking the baseball up against the all-white caps.

Pillar and Vogt come up huge in eighth to give Giants 10-5 win

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photo from sfgate.com: San Francisco Giants’ Stephen Vogt, right, celebrates with Buster Posey (28) after hitting a three-run home run off Oakland Athletics’ Ryan Buchter during the eighth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019, in Oakland, Calif.

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND — Kevin Pillar was a new addition to the San Francisco Giants earlier this season, and time and time, he comes with the biggest hit of the game.

Well, Pillar did it again, as he lashed a two-run double down the right field line in the top of the eighth inning, helping the Giants to a 10-5 victory over the Oakland As before a crowd of 53,367 at the Coliseum.

Stephen Vogt returned to the Coliseum, and put the game out of reach, as he smashed a three-run home run over the out-of-town scoreboard in left field.

In all, in that eighth inning, the Giants scored eight runs, sent 11 batters to the plate off of five different As relievers.

This was the first time that the Giants scored eight runs or more in an inning came on August 28, 2016 against the Atlanta Braves at what was then called AT&T Park, and it was the first time since August 17 ,2012 against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park that they did it on the road.

The win by the Giants, stopped their four-game losing streak and they are 4-4 on their current nine-game road trip that ends on Sunday afternoon.

With the loss, the As saw their modest three-game winning streak come to a crashing halt at the hands of their Bay Area rivals.

Things did not start out well, as Mark Canha led off the bottom of the second inning with a solo home run into the left field bleachers to give the As a 1-0 lead.

Matt Chapman gave the As a 2-0 cushion in the bottom of the third inning, as his double went off the left field wall to score Jurickson Profar, who walked to lead off the inning. Following the Profar walk, Phegley singled and Semien flew out for the first out of the inning, then Chapman put the As on top with the double.

Chris Bassitt pitched a great game, as he went 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on scattering four hits, walking no one and striking out five.

His counterpart on the mound, Madison Bumgarner went five innings, allowing two runs, while giving up four hits, walking one and striking out five.

Both Bassitt and Bumgarner did not factor into the decision in the game.

Brandon Crawford got the Giants on the board in the top of the fifth, as his laser to left field cleared the wall for his 10th home run of the season.

Evan Longoria tied up the game in the game in the top of the sixth inning, as he singled to left field that scored Alex Dickerson from second base. Dickerson doubled to left field to setup the Longoria at-bat.

Overall, since June 30, Longoria is hitting .347 (34-for-98) with 21 runs scored, nine home runs and 27 runs batted in.

Longoria went 2-for-4 with a hit by pitch and a RBI on the night.

The game was not tied for long, as Marcus Semien singled to left field off of Jandel Gustave that gave the As 3-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Jurickson Profar doubled to lead off the inning against Gustave, then advanced an additional 90 feet when Josh Phegley dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt and then Semien came through his second hit of the night that gave the As the lead for the time being.

Profar doubled to lead off the inning against Gustave, then advanced an additional 90 feet when Josh Phegley dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt and then Semien came through his second hit of the night that gave the As the lead for good.

Matt Olson gave the As a two-run lead, as he smoked a single to right field that scored Semien with what looked like the decisive fourth run; however, that eight-run inning put an end to that.

Profar reached base again in the bottom of the eighth inning, as he walked with two outs and then Phegley doubled in Profar. Reyes Moronta came on to face Semien, but he was unable to get that final out and Semien walked; however, Moronta was able to get Chapman to pop up to Longoria to end the inning.

Shaun Anderson came into the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, and gave up a walk to Chad Pinder; however, he was able to Khris Davis to ground into a double play.

Despite the fact that it was a save situation, Will Smith came into the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was the first game pitched for Smith since August 16 against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

NOTES: Pablo Sandoval was evaluated by Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Wednesday, and he recommends that Sandoval UCL (Tommy John) reconstructive surgery on his right elbow. Sandoval will have the operation during the first week of September.

Anderson was reinstated from the 10-day injured list, as his rehab stint in Sacramento came to a close. To make room for Anderson on the roster, Andrew Suarez was optioned to Sacramento.

Both the Giants wore their players weekend jersey, as the Giants wore all black jerseys and the As wore all white jerseys and caps. Bassitt wore a black cap on the mound instead of the white caps like the rest of his teammates.

UP NEXT: Logan Webb makes his second career start on Sunday afternoon for the Giants, while veteran Brett Anderson will take the mound for the As.