Wade's Pinch-Hit HR In 9th Lifts Giants Past A's 6-5
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Pinch-hitter LaMonte Wade Jr. connected for a two-run homer in the ninth inning, helping the San Francisco Giants rally for a 6-5 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Saturday.
Brandon Belt drew a one-out walk against Lou Trivino (5-5) and was replaced by Mike Yastrzemski. Wade followed with his 16th homer, a towering drive to right on a 1-1 pitch.
Kris Bryant, Brandon Belt and Darin Ruf also homered for San Francisco, which trailed 5-2 after six innings. The Giants (79-44) stayed 1 1/2 games ahead of the charging Dodgers for the top spot in the NL West.
Starling Marte doubled twice for Oakland, continuing his surge since the All-Star break. Josh Harrison added an RBI double.
The A's fell 3 1/2 games behind the Astros in the AL West. Oakland entered the day with a half-game lead over the Red Sox for the second wild card.
Bryant's two-run homer off Sean Manaea cut the A's lead to 3-2 in the second. But Harrison doubled home Matt Olson in the third and Sean Murphy scored on Kevin Gausman's wild pitch in the fourth.
Belt and Ruf hit back-to-back homers off Andrew Chafin in the seventh.
Tyler Rogers (4-1) retired three batters for the win. Jake McGee pitched the ninth for his 27th save.
Gausman had another uneven outing. The All-Star right-hander had five strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings but allowed six hits and five runs, two earned. In seven starts since the break, Gausman has made it through six innings once.
Marte doubled and scored in the first when the A's scored three unearned runs off Gausman following a throwing error by third baseman Wilmer Flores. Marte is batting .382 (50 for 131) since the All-Star break.
RUNNING GAFFE
The Giants ran themselves out of a potential big inning in the eighth when Brandon Crawford was thrown out trying to steal third. Crawford took off running just as Jake Diekman appeared to start his windup, but Diekman stepped off and threw to Harrison, who chased Crawford down and tagged him out trying to get back to second.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Giants: RHP Johnny Cueto (right flexor strain) threw a bullpen in the Dominican Republic where he has been due to a death in his family. "Got some good video of that, looked good," manager Gabe Kapler said. ... 3B Evan Longoria (hand) underwent an MRI that showed no structural damage. He missed his third consecutive game.
Athletics: OF Stephen Piscotty was placed on the 10-day injured list for the second time this season because of a sprained left wrist. Piscotty previously was out from June 17-July 3 because of the same injury. He had played in 12 of 38 games since returning from that stint on the IL. "We'll see where we go from here, whether he needs surgery or not," manager Bob Melvin said. "He's had the cortisone shot, he's been dealing with it all year. Seems like it's just come to a head where he needs some more rest." Seth Brown was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to take Piscotty's place. … 3B Matt Chapman was rested.
UP NEXT
Giants RHP Logan Webb (7-3, 2.92 ERA) has won six consecutive decisions heading into Sunday's series finale. Webb has allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his previous 11 starts. Athletics RHP Frankie Montas (9-9, 4.04 ERA) allowed two runs in five innings during his only career appearance against San Francisco on June 26.
