Giants fall to A’s; Bay Bridge battle continues
The last time the San Francisco Giants met the Oakland A’s, one of the top clubs in the American League was asserting its dominance over a last-place team in the National League West.
The A’s swept the Giants at Oracle Park, engineering a pair of stunning ninth-inning comebacks against reliever Trevor Gott before trouncing San Francisco 15-3 in a series finale. A month later, the teams are meeting again at the Oakland Coliseum and while the Giants are in a much different place, they still haven’t figured out how to beat the A’s.
A Giants team that’s now fighting for a Wildcard spot in the postseason lost a critical series opener 6-0 on Friday at the Coliseum in the club’s first shutout defeat in a nine-inning game this year.
Manager Gabe Kapler’s club began the day in sole possession of the first Wildcard berth and ended the day tied for the second spot. The Phillies (26-25) climbed above .500 with a pair of wins over the Blue Jays and the Cardinals (24-24) moved to .500 with two wins over the Pirates, so the Giants will be pressured to bounce back right away on Saturday.
The Giants expect veterans Kevin Gausman and Johnny Cueto to start the final two games of the series, but both pitchers needed extra rest after Gausman experienced right elbow tightness and Cueto dealt with right hip pain during the week. The minor injuries led the Giants to call on right-hander Logan Webb to face the A’s on Friday and command issues that have plagued the rookie for much of the season showed up in Oakland.
Webb needed 90 pitches to finish just 3 1/3 innings and left the game with the Giants trailing 6-0. A’s first baseman Matt Olson launched a three-run home run in the third inning, but nearly every Oakland hitter contributed to early rallies.
Webb started the night in a hole after second baseman Donovan Solano committed another defensive mistake in a season filled with them. Solano remains in contention for the National League batting title and has been
one of the club’s most consistent hitters all year, but his defense has been a major weakness this year and it cost Webb a first inning run.
With one on and one out, Solano fielded a Mark Canha grounder on the right side of second base and attempted to get the lead runner instead of using his momentum to get the sure out at first base. An errant throw left the A’s with a runner in scoring position and new third baseman Jake Lamb took advantage with a RBI single.
The game didn’t slip away from Webb until the third inning when Olson yanked a 110.6 mile per hour rocket inside the right field foul pole, giving Oakland a 4-0 lead.