Wade's 9th-Inning Pinch-Hit Homer Lifts Giants Past A's
OAKLAND (AP) -- San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler went to the right player at the right time once again.
Pinch-hitter LaMonte Wade Jr. connected for a two-run homer in the ninth inning, helping the 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.
"Our offense was able to come from behind and put together some really strong at-bats and I just wanted to follow suit and do the same thing," Wade said. "(Trivino's) got a lot of good stuff that's moving away from you and really coming into you, so just trying to push him out over the middle and get your best swing off. Luckily I was able to do that."
Trivino said he left the pitch up too high to Wade.
"We needed to win that game," a solemn Trivino said. "We had the least most of the game and I thought we were on a roll. It hurts a little more."
Kris Bryant, Brandon Belt and Darin Ruf also homered for San Francisco, which trailed 5-2 after six innings. The major league-leading Giants (79-44) snapped a two-game skid and stayed 1 1/2 games ahead of the charging Dodgers for the top spot in the NL West.
"One of the reasons I like LaMonte coming up in a big moment like that in a big pinch-hit spot, cold off the bench, is because of the way he leads off a game," Kapler said. "He leads off the game ready from pitch one. We know he's dangerous enough where can put the ball in the seats like he did."
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.
"When they got some mistakes they took advantage of them," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "We were in a position to win the game. Offensively we did OK, certainly more early than late. This is a game that we usually nail down."
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.
"I looked up at the scoreboard and saw Belt's history against Chafin, I think he was 0 for 16 going into that appearance," Kapler said. "Then sure enough the next pitch he put into the seats."
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.
"It was a grind from first pitch one," Gausman said. "The team came up huge and picked me up."
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. That came after Curt Casali popped out to the pitcher while trying to sacrifice the runners over.
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," Kapler said. ... 3B Evan Longoria (hand) underwent an MRI that showed no structural damage. He missed his third consecutive game.
A's: 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," 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.
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