Jung Hoo Lee homers, Giants top Athletics 3‑1
SAN FRANCISCO (Interstat) — Jung Hoo Lee homered and Rafael Devers drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Athletics 3-1 on Tuesday night at Oracle Park.
Robbie Ray pitched six innings of one-run ball to earn his sixth win of the season and Caleb Kilian worked a scoreless ninth for his fifth save as the Giants snapped a three-game losing streak. The Athletics, who had won their previous two games, fell to 38-41.
Lee put the Giants on the board with a solo home run to right-center field in the second inning, his fifth of the season. The blast tied the game 1-1 after the Athletics had scored once in the top of the third on a Max Muncy RBI single.
The Athletics took their only lead in the third inning. Colby Thomas reached on a fielding error by Lee in right field and advanced to second. Muncy then grounded a single to left field, scoring Thomas and giving a 1-0 advantage.
San Francisco answered in the bottom of the second. After Devers grounded out, Lee launched a 1-0 pitch from Athletics starter Aaron Civale over the wall in right-center. Willy Adames followed with a double to center and scored on a sharp single by Matt Chapman. Chapman was thrown out trying to advance to second on the play, but the Giants led 2-1.
Civale, who took the loss and fell to 5-4, settled in after that. He allowed two runs on five hits over four innings, striking out five and walking one.
Ray, meanwhile, worked through traffic but kept the Athletics off the board after the third. He allowed only three hits and struck out seven over six innings. The left-hander improved to 6-6.
The game remained 2-1 until the seventh. Giants reliever Mason Barnett issued an intentional walk to Drew Gilbert after striking out Jonah Cox to start the inning. Bryce Eldridge then walked, and Casey Schmitt singled to left, loading the bases. Devers followed with a ground-ball single to center, scoring Eldridge and extending the Giants’ lead to 3-1.
Barnett was replaced by Jose Suarez, who got Lee to ground out to first base and then induced a flyout from Adames to end the inning.
The Athletics mounted a threat in the ninth against Kilian. Tyler Soderstrom led off with a single to left, but Jacob Wilson grounded into a forceout. Lawrence Butler walked, putting two on with one out, but Henry Bolte struck out swinging to end the game.
The Giants offense was led by Schmitt, who went 2 for 4 with a run scored. Lee finished 2 for 3 with a home run and an RBI, and Chapman and Devers each drove in a run. The Giants collected nine hits in the victory.
The Athletics managed just three hits total. Muncy had the lone RBI, and Soderstrom had two of Oakland’s three hits. Civale was charged with the loss despite a solid effort.
Defensively, the Athletics committed one error, while the Giants played cleanly.
The game lasted 2 hours, 41 minutes before a crowd of 40,043.
For the Giants, the victory was a welcome relief after a difficult stretch. San Francisco had lost six of its previous seven games and entered the night with a 32-46 record, the second-worst mark in the National League. The Athletics, meanwhile, have struggled to sustain momentum, alternating wins and losses over their past 10 games.
The series continues Wednesday night at Oracle Park, with the Athletics planning to start right-hander Mitch Spence and the Giants countering with righty Tristan Beck.
In other notes, the Athletics placed outfielder Esteury Ruiz on the 10-day injured list before the game with a left hamstring strain. To fill his spot on the roster, the club recalled infielder Darell Hernaiz from Triple-A Las Vegas.
The Giants made no roster moves prior to the game, but manager Bob Melvin opted to start Jonah Cox in center field, batting eighth, while moving Luis Arraez to second base and Casey Schmitt to left field.
Interstat’s game simulator had projected the Athletics to win 5-3, with the Athletics installed as pregame favorites with a spread of minus-1.5. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Giants a 54.60 percent probability of victory. The total of four runs went over the over-under line of 8.5.