OAKLAND–Hunter Pence had every reason to be upset.
Even though the Giants scored a season-high five runs in the first inning and forced A’s left-hander Sean Manaea out after just three innings, Pence came to the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning stuck with an 0-for-3 to his name.
So when the A’s elected to intentionally walk Giants’ catcher Buster Posey to get to Pence in the sixth inning, the Giants’ right fielder should have taken it personally.
And by the looks of his swing, he did.
With San Francisco clinging to a 7-4 lead, Pence launched a 390-foot opposite field blast off of Oakland reliever Michael Brady that extended San Francisco’s cushion to six runs and proved to be a defining blow in the Giants’ 10-4 victory.
After smashing a pair of deep flyballs in the first two innings of Tuesday’s contest, including a shot that nearly escaped the deepest part of the yard in left center field in the top of the second, Pence was likely frustrated. Though his teammates saw the fruits of their labor rewarded with seven runs in the first four innings, Pence was the only Giants’ player who had yet to reach base.
When the sixth inning rolled around and the A’s had the choice to pitch to Posey with a runner on third and one out, or to face Pence with runners at the corners and a double play possibility very much in play, the choice was obvious. And though Pence is a realist, there’s pride involved when the player in front of you is intentionally walked.
He made the A’s pay.
“To see him (Pence) get the ball up in the air a little bit, he’s been in a little funk with smothering the ball and hitting a lot of grounders,” Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s got some big power, you guys have probably watched his batting practice and his timing was I thought good tonight. Again, off that right-hander, to hit it out into right center, that means he’s staying on the ball.”
Pence’s oppo-taco (on Tuesday of all days) marked his eighth home run of the season, and his first in the Bay Area. All eight of his round-trippers this year have come on the road, as have all three three-run home runs the Giants have now hit in 2017.
“You know at this point, I’m trying to give everything I can every at-bat,” Pence said. “Results, you can’t necessarily control. I hit one ball good, so I had two balls I hit good and one of them happened to be a hit.”
Pence’s smash was also the Giants’ third home run of the night, as it followed a two-run blast from designated hitter Nick Hundley in the top of the first inning and a solo shot from Brandon Belt in the top of the fifth that pushed the Giants’ lead to 7-2.
Hundley’s home run came after A’s first baseman Yonder Alonso failed to turn a pair of potential 3-6-3 double plays that would have aided Manaea’s efforts to limit the damage, while Belt’s solo job marked the 17th time he’s circled the bases this year. That’s one shy of his career-high.
“It was nice, I can’t tell you the last time we’ve scored five in the first,” Bochy said. “It’s nice to have that cushion. They came right back and I thought was what important was that we kept adding on. Of course, the three-run homer by Pence helped put it away, but just a great game for us. The way we swung the bats, the way we played.”
The three home runs San Francisco’s offense provided right-hander Jeff Samardzija gave the Giants’ starter a welcoming cushion that he needed on a night on which he didn’t have his best command.
Samardzija narrowly avoided a disastrous first inning after the Giants’ spotted him a five-run lead, and escaped a frame in which he gave up three hits and a walk with just a lone earned run allowed thanks to a Posey throw that cut down leadoff man Matt Joyce’s attempt to steal third base.
Samardizja wound up pitching eight innings and allowing six hits and four runs, despite encountering more trouble in the bottom of the fifth.
After setting down eight in a row, Samardzija began the fifth inning by allowing a leadoff single to Jaycob Brugman and then a two-run home run to Joyce that cut San Francisco’s advantage to 7-4.
“It was pretty sloppy there for about three or four innings and luckily we got through that third with not hitting a spot, but you keep battling,” Samardzija said. “You put your poker face on and act like you know what you’re doing out there and sometimes it goes your way. Joyce ran into one, but we made some other outs and made some great plays on defense. Like I said, those 10 runs is always nice, you can go out there and do your thing and not be stupid, just be smart.”
In eight innings of work, Samardzija wound up throwing 118 pitches, which is one pitch high of his season-high, 119, which came in a 7-2 win over Milwaukee on June 5.
“This one is made for him (Samardzija) because you can ride him,” Bochy said. “He can handle the pitches. He had a couple of long innings but he kept battling out there, he got a little better as he went, and like I said, that’s eight big innings there. We checked on him in the seventh and eighth and he said I’m good and it worked out perfect.”
But in the sixth, the A’s decision to put Posey on first came back to haunt them, as Pence unloaded on a Brady offering that helped the Giants even a four-game home-and-home set with Oakland at a game apiece.
Also, if this recap feels a bit short, the Wifi at the Coliseum stopped working in the seventh inning. It’s a miracle that this article was posted.
