Hundley’s slam helps Giants get past A’s
OAKLAND, Calif. - Nick Hundley hit a grand slam and the San Francisco Giants made it a sweep of their Bay Bridge Series, beating the Oakland Athletics 6-3 on Saturday to conclude spring training for both teams.
Matt Joyce hit a two-run double for Oakland, a positive first impression on his new fan base.
Justin Ruggiano hit a two-run homer for San Francisco.
The Giants headed straight to the nearby Oakland airport to open the season Sunday afternoon at Arizona. The Giants just departed spring training in the desert last Tuesday.
“This is the program we’ve got, try to make the best of it,” right fielder Hunter Pence said, “So we’ll go get after it.”
Khris Davis played for the second straight day after nursing a quad injury, this time back in his left field spot for Oakland after being designated hitter in Friday’s 2-1 defeat.
A’s starter Andrew Triggs took the loss as Oakland dropped its final six exhibition games. Manager Bob Melvin used nearly his planned lineup for opening day Monday against the Angels.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy removed most of his regulars by the fourth as they backed starter Tyler Beede.
Nationals 4, Red Sox 4, 9 innings: The Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals took a memorable tour of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., before engaging in one last inconsequential baseball game prior to opening day.
Playing within the guarded walls of the academy on Navy’s home diamond, the Nationals and Boston played to a tie in a tiny stadium jammed with 1,030 fans — most of them Midshipmen in uniform.
Max Scherzer allowed two runs over five innings for Washington in a game called after nine innings.
For the players and coaches, the most significant part of the day occurred long before Sean J. Stackley, acting Secretary of the Navy, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
At Rangers 5, Royals 3: Carlos Gomez and Shin-Soo Choo each drove in two runs and the Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals to end the teams’ exhibition schedule on Saturday.
Texas had a scoreless tie and two wins in the last three games, all against Kansas City, to finish at 17-16-3.
The Royals (17-15-2) had been shut out in the first two games. Drew Butera led off the fifth inning with his second home run of the spring for KC’s only run, ending a 22-inning scoreless streak.
At Brewers 5, White Sox 4: Jimmy Nelson pitched five innings of one-run ball in his final start before the season and Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit his fourth homer of the spring for Milwaukee.
The Brewers won the game with one out in the bottom of the ninth when minor leaguer Kyle Wren singled through a drawn-in infield off Chicago’s Connor Walsh to drive home Jett Bandy from third. The White Sox had tied the game with two runs in the top of the ninth. Jose Abreu had an RBI double in the inning and added a solo shot in the seventh.
— Wire services