Yastrzemski goes 4-for-5 in Giants win 7-6; Final game at Petco for Bochy

sfgate.com photo: San Francisco Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski scores on a Solano Donavon single the top of the fourth at Petco Park in San Diego on Sunday

By Jeremy Kahn

In what was Bruce Bochy’s final game at Petco Park, the San Francisco Giants gave their manager a nice going away present.

Mike Yastrzemski picked up his second four-hit game of the season, while Madison Bumgarner went seven innings and the Giants hung on to defeat the San Diego Padres 7-6 at Petco Park.

Yastrzemski singled twice and doubled twice, as the Giants improved to 13-4 since the All-Star break.

Bumgarner scattered four hits in seven innings, and his only mistake was a three-run home run to Hunter Renfroe in the bottom of the third inning that gave the Padres a 4-2 lead.

He also struck out six and walked two in his final start before the July 31 trade deadline.

On the afternoon, the Giants picked up 16 hits against Padres pitching, as they won their seventh game in the past eight against the Padres, five of those seven wins came at Petco Park. The Giants swept the Padres in a three-game series from July 1-3.

Renfroe, who hit the three-run home run that gave the Padres a two-run lead in the bottom of the third inning, drove in four runs; however, it was not enough, as the Padres are now 4-11 since the All-Star break and have fallen into fourth place in the National League West.

It was the second four hit of Yastrzemskis career and his second in the last 13 days, as he picked up four hits against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on July 25.

Buster Posey picked up three hits on the afternoon, which included an RBI double in the top of the ninth inning.

The Giants tied up the game in the top of the fourth inning, as Poway native Alex Dickerson singled to right field to score Donovan Solano, who cut the Padres lead down to 4-3 two batters before Dickerson tied it up. Solanos single scored Yastrzemski, who doubled to left-center field with one out in the inning.

Will Smith gave up a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to Wil Myers in the bottom of the ninth inning, but Luis Urias to end the game and pick up his 26th save of the season.

NOTES: With this being Bochy’s last game at Petco Park, the manager stayed at the team hotel on Saturday night instead of his Poway home.

“A lot of people were going to ask me, what’s it going to be like coming to the ballpark, going down memory lane, whatever,” Bochy said. “That’s the first time I’ve walked from the Marriott, so it was not like I went down memory lane on that one.”

Nick Vincent was reinstated from his rehab assignment, also reinstated from the 60-day disabled list and then designated for assignment.

UP NEXT: After an off-day on Monday, the Giants begin a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park and Tyler Beede will take the mound in the opener.

Guerrero Jr. homers twice in Blue Jays’ 7-3 win over Giants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-In his first ever appearance as a major leaguer at Oracle Park, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., did not disappoint the allegiance of Toronto Blue Jays fans in the crowd.

Guerrero Jr. launched a solo home run deep over the center field wall, helping the Blue Jays to a 7-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants before a crowd of 31,230 at Oracle Park.

Once again, the first inning was a troublesome inning for the Giants, as with the three runs that the Blue Jays scored in the first inning, the Giants have been outscored 45-5 in the opening frame.

In his next at-bat, Guerrero Jr. singled and then walked in his third at-bat, as the rookie is proving to everyone why he was the number one minor league prospect coming into the 2019 season.

Nick Vincent was the opener for the Giants, and pitched the first inning, allowing three runs on four hits and threw 31 pitches in that opening frame.

This was the second start of Vincents career, as he started a game on August 21, 2018, while pitching for the Seattle Mariners against the Houston Astros at Safeco Field. In that game, Vincent threw two perfect innings.

Vincent gave way to Tyler Beede, who pitched 2.1 innings, striking out five, including the side in the top of the third inning.

Trent Thornton went the first 5.2 innings for the Blue Jays, as he allowed two runs on three hits, walking five and striking out seven, as he won his first major league game.

Thornton also picked up his first major league hit, as he singled in the top of the fourth inning off of Beede. He liked hitting so much that he added a single in the top of the sixth inning off of Reyes Moronta.

Guerrero Jr. added a second home run in the top of the sixth inning, as on the first pitch he saw from Moronta, it landed about one-quarter up into the left-center field bleachers.

The home run was measured at 451 feet, a three-run shot that scored Thornton and former Oakland As second baseman Eric Sogard, who was hit by a pitch just prior to the Guerrero Jr. home run.

Pablo Sandoval gave Giants fans their only bit of excitement in the bottom of the third inning, as he hit his fifth home run of the season that scored Joe Panik, who led off the inning with a single.

Sandoval walked in the fifth and seventh innings, and it marked the two walks of the season for him.

NOTES: With those four hits in the first inning, opponents are now 55-for-172 in the first inning, a batting average of .320. On the other side of things, the Giants are now 23-for-135, a .167 clip in the first inning.

Aaron Altherr was added to the 25-man roster, while to make room for Altherr, the Giants designated Catcher Erik Kratz for assignment.

UP NEXT: Shaun Anderson will make his major-league debut for the Giants in the series and home stand finale on Wednesday afternoon.

This season for the Sacramento Rivercats, Anderson was 2-1 with a 4.11 earned run average, as he walked 11 and struck out 37 in 35 innings.

Edwin Jackson will make his season debut for the Blue Jays on Wednesday afternoon, and will make major-league history in the process.

The Blue Jays are the 14th major league team of Jacksons career, breaking a tie he currently shares with Octavio Dotel.

In his career, Jackson has worn the uniforms of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa (Devil) Rays, Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, and Oakland Athletics, prior to signing with the Blue Jays.

A’s beat M’s 2-1 in 10 innings and sweep the series

Photo Credit: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The majority of the preseason prognosticators had the Oakland Athletics finishing dead last in the American League West. Evidently, the A’s forgot to read the predictions for their 2016 season.

On Sunday, the Athletics survived seven innings of shutout baseball pitched by “King Felix” Hernandez (0-1, o.69 ERA), had strong pitching performances by their own stater and bullpen, used the long ball to defeat the Seattle Mariners 2-1 in 10 innings and won the series on the road three games to none.

The Athletics won the game via  a solo home run hit by Coco Crisp in the top of the 10th inning off Seattle reliever Nick Vincent. With two outs, Crisp hit a 3-1 pitch 376 feet over the right field wall to give Oakland a 2-1 lead.

Sean Doolittle took the mound for the Athletics in the bottom of the 10th inning and closed out the game for his first save of the season.

The A’s record improves to 4-3 with the win and puts them in sole possession of first-place in the American League West.

The Mariners are struggling to figure out how they squandered such an outstanding pitching performance like the one turned in by “King Felix” on Sunday.

On the mound

Hernandez was a master on the mound. He pitched seven innings giving up just three hits and no runs. The “King” recorded 10 strike outs and issued just two walks. He threw 99 pitches (62 strikes). The Seattle radio broadcasters said the outing was Hernandez at his best especially with the command he showed on his change-up and breaking ball. It is hard to imagine that such a quality outing simply ended in a no decision.

Chris Bassitt made his second start of the season for Oakland. Bassitt worked seven innings giving up three hits and one unearned run. He had four strikeouts but issued base-on-balls to five Seattle batters. Bassitt threw 97 pitches (58 stikes). Bassitt has yet to figure into a decision in his two starts this year.

The A’s used three pitchers out of the bullpen on Sunday. Ryan Madson, John Axford and Sean Doolittle worked one inning each. The three relievers gave up no runs, no hits, no walks and struck out two hitters. Axford was credited with his first win of the year while Doolittle recorded his first save of the season.

Seattle also used three pitchers out of their bullpen. Joel Peralta was charged with a blown save when gave up a home run to Marcus Semien. Steve Cishek worked a scoreless inning. Nick Vincent was tagged with the loss when he gave up the game winning home run off the bat of Coco Crisp.

In the batter’s box

The A’s scattered five hits over the 10 innings versus Seattle. No Oakland player had a multi-hit day. Crisp, Lowrie, Alonso, Phegley and Semien all had one hit each.

Marcus Semien tied the game at 1-1 when he hit his first home run of year in the top of the eighth inning off Peralta. Semien hit a high fly ball over the left field wall on a 3-2 pitch.

The Mariners managed to get just six hits off the four Oakland pitchers. Nelson Cruz had a two-hit game than included his second double of the year. Seattle catcher Leonys Martin also had a two-hit game.

The Athletics went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.

The M’s were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and they left 10 men on base.

MVP

The MVP of the game has to be Felix Hernandez. The “King” was brilliant on the mound and showed why he is one of top pitchers in the major leagues. Plus, he deserves to get something for pitching that well and having his team lose the game.

Honorable Mention

Coco Crisp deserves this honor for hitting his first home run since August 27, 2014. After battling through injuries last season, it was nice to see Crisp carry his team to a big win using his bat.

Up next

The Athletics will be back in action on Monday in Oakland when they open a three-game series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.