Runaway win for S.F.
Kelby Tomlinson triples during the Giants’ three-run sixth inning. San Francisco, which hit three homers, scored five in the first and ripped Oakland.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy sat in the visiting dugout at the Coliseum and sounded wistful when he said, “Home runs do damage. Power is a big part of the game. It’s really dominating the game now, especially the teams that are winning.”
In Tuesday night’s 10-4 rout of Oakland, which ended their latest losing streak at four games, the Giants gave Bochy a taste of what so many managers are happily lapping up. They hit three homers to match a season high.
Nick Hundley hit a two-run homer in a five-run first inning against left-hander Sean Manaea. Brandon Belt hit a solo off just-recalled reliever Michael Brady and Hunter Pence clocked Brady with a threerun, opposite-field homer.
“It’s fun to hit home runs,” Belt said after hitting his 17th nearly a month since his 16th. “I’m not sure why there’s a lot more of them this year. It was just nice to make (the pitchers) come to us, get a good pitch to hit and drive it.”
Jeff Samardzija went eight innings to win in his first start in Oakland since May 17, 2015, benefiting from 14 Giants hits, eight for extra bases. Belt, Gorkys Hernandez, Kelby Tomlinson, Buster Posey, Hundley and Joe Panik had multiple hits. Posey had three and drove in two runs.
The teams split the Oakland half of the annual home-andhome, which resumes Wednesday at AT&T Park.
Hundley homered as the Giants scored five first-inning runs for the first time since 2014. Manaea should have been down 1-0. Four more scored because Yonder Alonso messed up two double-play balls.
Pence put a 7-4 game away when he homered with two aboard in the sixth after the A’s walked Posey intentionally. Three-run homers have been a problem on both sides for the Giants. They have hit just three but have allowed 15.
A’s manager Bob Melvin pulled Manaea after three innings and 70 pitches. He was not hurt.
“The first inning took a lot out of him, and we didn’t help him defensively,” Melvin said.
Manaea said he did not do a good job of “trying to contain things to slow the game down and make the right decisions.”