Sean Manaea, Giants’ D help A’s win 3rd in row
Sean Manaea, Giants’ D help A’s win 3rd in row
Whatever spell was cast on the baseball or on the Giants’ gloves Wednesday night, the A’s will take it.
While their crossbay rivals were flubbing popups and flyballs, the A’s were happily taking advantage in a 7-1 victory, Oakland’s third win in a row over the Giants.
The four-game Bay Bridge Series ends Thursday night at the Coliseum; the A’s have outscored the Giants 28-15 in the first three games.
Jake Peavy, starting for the Giants, was the one victimized by his teammates’ misadventures.
“It was certainly a frustrating night, on all fronts,” said Peavy, who was clearly displeased at junctures.
A’s starter Sean Manaea, just off the disabled list after missing two weeks with a forearm strain, was the beneficiary of the Giants’ largesse and also pitched extremely well.
The left-hander stranded runners in scoring position in the first and second, then pitched out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the fourth by getting Mac Williamson to bounce into a double play.
“He was chuckin’,” A’s catcher Stephen Vogt said.
Manaea worked 52/3 scoreless innings, his first scoreless outing of the season.
“Dominating stuff,” manager Bob Melvin said.
With one out in the third, Marcus Semien hit a popup to short right and second baseman Ramiro Peña slammed into right fielder Williamson as Williamson was preparing to make the catch.
The ball went sailing, and Semien wound up at third on Peña’s error.
Semien scored on Billy Burns’ squeeze bunt to first, and Coco Crisp took over as the runner at third with a triple to left-center.
Jed Lowrie hit a drive down the line in right, and Williamson went back, jumped and had the ball in his glove momentarily as he reached over the wall, but it popped out and went for a two-run homer.
The next batter, Josh Reddick, hit an easy foul pop to third that Ruben Tejada flubbed, failing to make a basket catch.
In the bottom of the fourth, Peavy walked Billy Butler, and Yonder Alonso clocked his second homer of the year.
[...] Semien, for the second inning in a row, made it to third on poor Giants’ defensive work.
Burns doubled to left, scoring Semien, and Pagan fumbled the ball, though Burns did not advance as a result.
“They certainly didn’t play a very tight defensive game and we took advantage of it,” Lowrie said.
San Francisco’s run came in the eighth off reliever John Axford, who walked Belt, gave up a single to Buster Posey and threw a wild pitch to advance both runners.
Brandon Crawford scored Belt with a sacrifice fly.
The Giants are 21-33 all-time during the regular season in Oakland, where they’ve dropped 13 of the past 17.
Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
The Giants entered the Bay Bridge Series 16 games better than the A’s in the standings, but the first three games haven’t gone that way: