Three homers power A’s past Giants to open Bay Bridge series

The Oakland A’s belted three home runs to defeat the San Francisco Giants 5-0 Sunday afternoon, as left-handed starter Brett Anderson pitched a solid six innings to take the opening game of the Battle of the Bay.

Stephen Piscotty and Ramon Laureano both hit two-run home runs, and Jurickson Profar added a solo homer. Anderson (W, 2-0, 2.87 ERA) and Frankie Montas (S, 2) were both sharp and brisk, combining for the shutout win in just over two hours.

Starter Derek Rodriguez (L, 0-4, 4.76 ERA) pitched four innings for San Francisco and gave up three runs on just two hits. The Giants (13-14) could muster just three hits off Anderson in 66 pitches, with Mac Williamson and Pablo Sandoval being left on base after notching singles, and Brandon Crawford blooping a base hit over third baseman Matt Chapman‘s head.

The A’s (0-2 regular season, 12-8 Spring Training) may have been jetlagged after dropping a pair of regular season games to Seattle in Tokyo, but arrived ready to play two final Spring Training games against their cross-bay rivals.

Chapman said:

“Going from regular season game to spring training game is kinda weird but that’s just one of those things you got to do. I’m glad we were able to bounce back after two losses to Seattle and come back, hit some homers and do what we do.”

The A’s are missing first baseman Matt Olson, who broke his right hand in Japan and will miss up to two months. The lefty slugger plays a major role on this team defensively, with his Gold Glove, and offensively, after hitting 29 home runs last season and 24 in 2018.

A’s manager Bob Melvin spoke about the loss of Olson:

“He makes everyone in the infield better too. All you have to do is get it over to his direction. He has a wide wing span, he picks everything out of the dirt … it’s tough not having him out there, but that’s why we have a Mark Canha, thats why we have Profar who can move around, Pinder, it gives somebody else an opportunity.”

Up Next

The A’s will start Liam Hendricks against the Giants’ Drew Pomeranz tomorrow at Oracle Park in San Francisco Monday at 6:45 p.m. The two teams close out their Spring Training Tuesday night in San Francisco.

Notes

After three more shutout innings, Frankie Montas has now not allowed an earned run in four of five Spring Training outings. Montas’ 0.56 ERA is the lowest in MLB this Spring. … Before the game, the Giants traded minor league infielder C.J. Hinojosa to Milwaukee for 38-year-old backup catcher Erik Kratz. San Francisco reassigned catcher and former Athletic Steven Vogt back to minor league camp.