After a pair of shutouts, Giants respond to rout A's 14-2
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 20: Brandon Belt #9 of the San Francisco Giants bats against the Oakland Athletics in the top of the first inning at RingCentral Coliseum on September 20, 2020 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Get
OAKLAND, Calif. - Brandon Crawford hit a grand slam, Chadwick Tromp and Darin Ruf added two-run homers, and the San Francisco Giants prevented the Oakland Athletics from clinching the AL West title at home with a 14-2 victory Sunday.
The Giants earned their first win in six tries during this year's Bay Bridge Series and go into the season's final week chasing a playoff spot.
“Look, we seem to be a team that responds pretty well,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “Of course we wanted to clinch today; we wanted to do it at home. We were on a roll the last couple games. It just didn’t happen.”
Oakland, already into the playoffs for a third straight season, needed a win or a loss by the rival Astros to secure its first division crown since 2013. Houston won at home against the Diamondbacks.
Jake Lamb hit a two-run single in the sixth for Oakland’s lone scoring on an uncharacteristically quiet day.
“It didn’t happen,” A's starter Mike Minor said. “Guys are still positive.”
Tyler Anderson (3-3) — ejected in the third inning Thursday against the Mariners — struck out four over 5 2/3 innings pitching Sunday on short rest so Johnny Cueto could get an extra day.
This time, Anderson kept calm.
“It was just one game where I was probably running a little hot," he said.
Tromp connected in the third for the Giants’ first runs of the series, then Ruf the next inning against Minor (1-6), who was coming off a victory in his first start with Oakland. Tromp, a rookie, also had an RBI single during his three-hit day as San Francisco produced 15 hits to five by the A's.
“We’re going home with our spirits high. We have 100% confidence we’re going to make this happen," Tromp said. “We can all taste it.”
Ruf added a two-run single in the eighth as the Giants snapped a three-game winning streak for Oakland (33-20) following consecutive 6-0 shutouts. Luis Basabe got his first career RBI with a single in a three-run ninth.
“I thought it was indicative of a club that just had a couple of bad days and got right back to the way we were swinging the bats prior to the first two games of this A’s series,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “Kind of had a sense we were going to bounce back from that, and our guys came out ready today.”
AVOIDING A SWEEP
The Giants scored their second-most runs of the season behind a 23-5 win at Colorado on Sept. 1. They won for the third time in eight games after being held to fewer than one run in each of the five defeats during this stretch.
San Francisco, which is 10-17 on the road, was outscored 44-30 in the six games versus Oakland in 2020.
GOOD GUYS
A's infielder Tony Kemp and his old college teammate at Vanderbilt, injured Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemski, received the Bill Rigney “Good Guy” awards from the local chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
MENGDEN UPDATE
A’s RHP Daniel Mengden was designated for assignment after being medically cleared and reinstated from the COVID-19 injured list following a positive test from Aug. 28. He has been asymptomatic throughout and resumed throwing off a mound at the club’s San Jose alternate site in recent days.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Giants: Rookie C Joey Bart is getting a couple of days off to do more hitting work with the coaches, Kapler said. ... Yastrzemski, who left Thursday’s win against Seattle with tightness in his right calf, missed a third straight game.
Athletics: C Sean Murphy took several backswings off the helmet during the series, one by Wilmer Flores on Sunday. ... RHP Lou Trivino sustained a “pretty good-sized bruise” according to Melvin after being hit by a line drive on the upper leg Saturday. Trivino did some pregame throwing to test the injury. ... INF Chad Pinder, on the injured list with a strained right hamstring, has begun baseball activities and took swings in the cage the past two days.
UP NEXT
Giants: Cueto (2-1, 4.78 ERA) pitches Monday trying to snap a four-start winless stretch after losing his last time out at San Diego.
Athletics: RHP Frankie Montas (3-4, 5.86) is back from the paternity list and will pitch Tuesday's series opener at Dodger Stadium after an Oakland off day.