YES, HE CANHA
Samardzija struggles with control, Giants drop grinding battle
SAN FRANCISCO >> All Gorkys Hernandez could do was turn slightly, bend at the waist and put his hands on his knees as the ball sailed well into the left-field seats.
He didn’t even bother running to the wall. Mark Canha, too, knew the ball was long gone the second it left his bat.
The A’s pinch-hitter flipped his bat to the ground, turned to face his own dugout and galloped down the first-base line while jawing with teammates after his two-run bomb in the seventh inning put the A’s ahead, 4-3, erasing a Giants lead with often-reliable reliever Tony Watson on the hill.
“Tony’s been doing such a good job. He had an off night,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s been so solid for us and you’re gonna have nights where you’re a little bit off.”
Canha’s long ball held up for the final three innings, and the Giants couldn’t muster any late fireworks like Friday night. The Athletics (54-42) took Game 2 of the Bay Bridge series over the Giants (50-47), 4-3, and the hosts failed to keep up with the winning efforts of NL West counterparts
Arizona and Colorado on Saturday.
Giants starter Jeff Samardzija only lasted four innings, throwing almost as many balls (26) as strikes (29). He struck out only one, and failed to induce a groundout. His two earned runs allowed and three hits surrendered don’t look catastrophic on the surface, but you could tell something wasn’t right as he-struggled to find a rhythm. Derek Holland hit the bullpen mound with no outs in the third, then again with no outs in the fourth before taking over to begin the fifth.
Samardzija didn’t last long enough to earn the win despite ceding the mound with the Giants up, 3-2, and he owns nine straight starts in which he’s allowed at least two earned runs. You have to go back to April 20 against the Angels, Samardzija’s first outing of the season, to find the last time he allowed fewer than two runs (he threw five scoreless innings and allowed only two hits in a win).
“It’s a process right now,” Samardzija said. “Didn’t warm up quite the way we wanted to, but you go out there and you do what
you can do with what you got. I’m not making any excuses, but I thought we went out there and made a few pitches, got out of some things and Boch had a chance to make a move and score some runs and it worked.”
Luckily for the Giants, Samardzija’s counterpart pitched worse. Brett Anderson allowed three earned runs and eight hits in only 3 1/3 innings, and the Giants benefited from Khris Davis’ lack of throwing strength and ball-tracking prowess in left field. All three Giants runs
came on hits to left, and two of those three — definitely one — could’ve been prevented by most other left-fielders in the league.
With the Giants clinging to a 3-2 lead, Holland struck out five in two scoreless innings of one-hit ball. He, not Samardzija, seems worthy of a chance in the starting rotation in the second half. Bochy wouldn’t touch that subject postgame, only saying he’ll give the second-half rotation a look at a later date and that Samardzija definitely wants to start.
When Holland gave up
the ball, the Giants gave up the lead. Watson had gone 18 innings in relief without allowing a run before surrendering a solo shot Wednesday against the Cubs. On Saturday night, he extended a less desirable streak — two straight appearances allowing a home run. Canha obliterated a 3-2 sinker halfway up the left-field stands to give the visitors a one-run lead.
After Watson allowed two more A’s to reach base and only recording one out, hard-throwing rookie Ray Black struck out Davis
and Matt Chapman, hitters four and five in the A’s order, capping off his rescue effort with an emphatic fist pump before walking to the dugout and shaking Bochy’s hand.
“Black did a good job picking (Watson) up,” Bochy said. “... Put him in a tough situation and threw the ball well.”
On Friday night, the seventh inning was the turning point for the Giants as Reyes Moronta escaped a bases-loaded, no-outs jam with a 2-1 lead before the Giants scored five times in the bottom half.