Lineup shuffle pays off in Giants win; A’s offense explodes in ninth for win
SAN FRANCISCO – Bruce Bochy tweaked a lineup that had produced no more than one run in 10 of the San Francisco Giants’ first 21 games, and he got results on Monday night.
Buster Posey, moved from cleanup to the No. 3 spot, drove in the go-ahead run with a fifth-inning single and recent call-up Mac Williamson hit the Giants’ longest home run of the season in a 4-2 win over the Washington Nationals to open a 10-game homestand.
“Sometimes if you change it up it helps get things going a little bit,” Bochy said earlier.
Bochy dropped struggling leadoff hitter Austin Jackson to No. 7 in the lineup, moving up Andrew Mccutchen, Posey and Evan Longoria one slot each from their usual 3-4-5.
Mccutchen hit a two-out double to left in the fifth and scored when Posey lined a single through the right side of the infield to break a 1-1 tie.
Right-hander Chris Stratton delivered the latest in a series of strong outings, allowing just two runs and four hits over 6 2/3 innings to improve to 2-1 with a 2.32 earned run average.
Stratton gave up two singles in the first, then just one more hit over the next five innings, a triple by Trea Turner, who subsequently scored on a sacrifice fly by Howie Kendrick. ATHLETICS 9, RANGERS 4 ARLINGTON, Texas – The A’s squandered multiple opportunities to take control throughout the night, but the final inning showed just how explosive this offense can be.
Entering the ninth inning 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position, the A’s unleashed that pent up frustration from earlier by putting together a sixrun ninth inning to turn what was a close game for most of the night into a 9-3 blowout victory over the Rangers. It was their third straight win, and at 12-11, the A’s are now over .500 after 20 games for the first time since April 30, 2016.
Marcus Semien led off the ninth inning by obliterating a first-pitch fastball from Kevin Jepsen well up the left field bleachers at Globe Life Park for the tie-breaking home run to put the A’s ahead 4-3. Looking like Semien’s homer was all they would get in the inning, the A’s put together perhaps their most impressive two-out rally of the season.
Matt Chapman’s triple to bring home Jed Lowrie was shortly followed up by RBI singles by Mark Canha and Jonathan Lucroy, and a two-run triple by Jake Smolinski. The inning finally ended with Semien grounding out to short as the A’s managed to bat around the order.
Semien’s blast was his third of the season and second in the past three games. Chapman, who entered the night batting .423 in 14 career games against Texas, continued that success by picking up his 10th career RBI against the club.
Trevor Cahill was solid in his second start back with the A’s, allowing three runs on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts over five innings of work.