A’s 6, Giants 1:
S.F. shakes up roster after being shut down by Oakland’s Daniel Gossett.
Conor Gillaspie’s three-run homer to win the 2016 wildcard game in New York for the Giants cannot be taken from him. It will remain one of the highlights of his life and career, which took an unwanted turn Wednesday night.
After the A’s beat the Giants 6-1 at AT&T Park, Gillaspie was called into manager Bruce Bochy’s office and told he will be designated for assignment, one of two third basemen who lost their jobs to make room for new players Wednesday.
Jae-Gyun Hwang was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento for the second time this year.
On Thursday, the Giants will activate outfielder Jarrett Parker after nearly four months on the disabled list and recall 23-year-old Ryder Jones, who struggled in his first big-league callup but has hit .375 with three doubles and three home runs in 11 games for Sacramento since his return from a hand injury.
Jones could get the bulk of the playing time at third base, with Miguel Gomez and Kelby Tomlinson the backup infielders. Jones also can play the outfield in an expected rotation with Parker, Denard Span, Hunter Pence, Gorkys Hernandez and Carlos Moncrief.
Gillaspie went 0-for-3 in Wednesday night’s loss, which pitted starters who carried 5.74 ERAs to the mound but who did not look the same in any other way in the third game of the Bay Bridge series.
Rookie Daniel Gossett held the Giants to one run over seven innings in his 10th and best big-league start. Matt Moore, struggling again to find a consistent release point, allowed four runs in five innings.
Ryon Healy had the big swing, a two-run homer in the third after a two-out walk to Jed Lowrie. Healy had been stuck on 19 homers since June 28 and ended his drought at 86 at-bats when he sent a belthigh, 92-mph fastball into the left-field seats to give the A’s a 4-0 lead.
A’s manager Bob Melvin was glad to see Healy hit it, not merely because it helped seal the victory.
“When you have a power guy like him and a track record of hitting home runs, and now you go into a little bit of a drought, it kind of wears on you,” Melvin said. “Now he can kind of breathe and relax and do what he expects himself to do.”
Oakland rookie Chad Pinder keeps buying himself more starts at different positions with his versatility.
Besides two hits and a walk at the plate, he made the defensive play of the night when he reached over his shoulder at the warning track in left to catch a drive by Gomez that prevented a run and ended the Giants’ only scoring rally in the fifth inning.
“I felt like I was on it from the moment he hit it,” said Pinder, an infielder who played just 80 minor-league innings in the outfield. “There was a slight adjustment I had to make at the last minute.”
The Giants had five hits, a lackluster showing after they hit three homers Tuesday night.
“We were off tonight,” Bochy said. “I don’t know what it was. We had such a good game last night, I thought we’d come out swinging. It’s a little disappointing we didn’t swing the bat better.”