Athletics 4, Giants 1
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Josh Donaldson belted a two-run home run in the fourth inning, and Yoenis Cespedes added a two-run double in the seventh, powering the Oakland Athletics to a 4-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Monday afternoon.
A's right-hander Dan Straily earned the win in his first career start in an interleague game as these Bay Area rivals faced each other in the first of four straight meetings, the first two at the Coliseum and the final two at AT&T Park.
Straily allowed just one run on four hits over six innings, producing his second straight stellar start. He blanked the Texas Rangers on two hits over seven innings in his previous start, a 1-0 A's win. Straily walked one, struck out one and threw just 78 pitches, 52 for strikes.
Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner took the loss, allowing four runs on four hits over 6 2/3 innings. He struck out six but walked five, hit a batter and struggled with his command. Bumgarner threw 115 pitches, only 64 for strikes.
The A's didn't have a hit through three innings off Bumgarner. But Cespedes led off the fourth with a four-pitch walk, then Bumgarner fell behind Donaldson 2-0.
Donaldson, who came into the game hitting .400 against left-handers, crushed Bumgarner's next pitch, an 89 mph fastball, over the right-center field wall, giving the A's a 2-0 lead. The home run was Donaldson's eighth of the season, one behind Cespedes' team-best nine.
After Donaldson homered, Bumgarner gave up back-to-back singles to Jed Lowrie and Nate Freiman, but he struck out Seth Smith and Derek Norris. After walking Adam Rosales to load the bases, Bumgarner fanned Coco Crisp, who took a low fastball on the outside corner for strike three.
The A's led just 2-1 entering the bottom of the seventh, but they added two insurance runs. Norris grounded a leadoff single to center and moved to second when Bumgarner walked Chris Young with two outs, ending his day.
Right-handed reliever George Kontos took over, and Cespedes drilled his 1-1 slider off the base of the fence in right-center for a two-run double.
Straily pitched his way out of trouble in the third and fifth innings. In the third, Andres Torres lined a leadoff single and was on third with two outs when Gregor Blanco sent a drive to deep left-center. But Crisp caught it two steps from the wall. In the fifth, Torres and Brandon Crawford had back-to-back singles with two outs, but Straily retired Guillermo Quiroz on a soft fly to right.
The Giants scored a run in the sixth off Straily, cutting Oakland's lead to 2-1. Blanco led off with a four-pitch walk and went to third on Marco Scutaro's hit-and-run single to right. With one out, Buster Posey brought Blanco home with a ground out to shortstop. Straily retired Hunter Pence on a hard one-hopper to the mound, ending the inning.
Left-hander Sean Doolittle blanked the Giants in the seventh and eighth innings, retiring all six hitters he faced while striking out two. Closer Grant Balfour pitched a scoreless ninth, converting his 29th straight save opportunity overall and 11 straight this season. He struck out two.
NOTES: Giants center fielder Angel Pagan (strained left hamstring) was out of the starting lineup for the second straight game. Giants manager Bruce Bochy called Pagan day-to-day and said he hoped he'd be able to return to the lineup Tuesday night. Pagan was available to pinch hit. ... Blanco made his second straight start in center field in place of Pagan despite battling a flu bug that's hit a number of Giants, including third baseman Pablo Sandoval and Bochy. "I'm sure it zapped him some, but he's OK to go," Bochy said. 'I'm sure he knows our situation. He almost has to go in this case." ... Sandoval felt good enough to take batting practice on the field for the first time in days. "I feel bad because I might have been the Typhoid Mary on this thing, bringing it in," Bochy said. "It's a bad crud. I had it for nine days. Pablo's had it for a while. You're hoping it stops. It really flattened Pablo for a couple days, and he's still not full strength, but he's able to go out there." ... A's right fielder Josh Reddick (sprained right wrist) was scheduled to begin a rehab assignment Monday night at Class A Stockton. Reddick will continue his rehab stint Tuesday at Triple-A Sacramento. "I think we have three or four (games) planned right now," A's manager Bob Melvin said.
