Giants homer twice in the 10th to beat Athletics

Giants homer twice in the 10th to beat A’s in series finale

Jerar Encarnacion #59 of the San Francisco Giants celebrates after hitting a two-run home run in the top of the tenth inning against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum on August 18, 2024 in Oakland, California. Lachlan Cunningham /Getty Images

2024.08.18 – Jerar Encarnación and Michael Conforto hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the 10th inning, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 4-2 win over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday in the finale of the Bay Bridge Series.

Heliot Ramos also connected to help the struggling Giants to their second victory in seven games.

Encarnación lined the first pitch he saw from Dany Jiménez (1-3) over the fence in right-center to snap a 1-all tie. Matt Chapman, the automatic runner at second base, also scored.

Conforto followed with a pinch-hit drive as a crowd of 32,727 at the Coliseum — many of them wearing Giants colors — roared in approval.

“Don’t you expect a game like this to end this place and the series between the Giants and the A’s?” said Giants manager Bob Melvin, who managed the A’s from 2011-21. “It almost had to happen like that. We were trying to manufacture a run however we could. Didn’t look good for a while but then a couple big swings that we’ve been missing ended up winning the game for us. And they didn’t go quietly.”

Oakland scored an unearned run in the bottom of the 10th and had the bases loaded with no outs. Ryan Walker (8-3), recently elevated to the closer role for the Giants, struck out the next three batters, including Shea Langeliers to end it.

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2024.08.18 (Giants vs. Athletics) See Full Highlights

Jerar Encarnacion #59 of the San Francisco Giants celebrates with Matt Chapman #26 after hitting a two-run home run in the top of the tenth inning against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum on August 18, 2024 in Oakland, California.Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images

2024.08.18 (Giants vs. Athletics) See Full Highlights

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2024.08.18 (Giants vs. Athletics) See Full Highlights

“I feel more calm when (the bases are) juiced,” Walker said. “Once that happened, I wasn’t worried. I just focused on making my pitches.”

When the game was over, Giants third baseman Chapman asked for and received one of the bases used at third. Chapman spent his first five seasons in the majors playing for the A’s at the Coliseum.

“That was pretty cool,” Chapman said as he walked through the clubhouse.

The A’s are scheduled to play the next three years in Sacramento before a planned move to Las Vegas for the 2028 season.

The abrupt ending followed a pitching duel between San Francisco ace Blake Snell and Oakland lefty JP Sears.

Nearly three weeks after throwing his first career no-hitter, Snell was dominant in his first start against the A’s since 2021. He allowed six hits and one run to go with 10 strikeouts in seven innings. It was the fourth time in Snell’s last five starts that he reached double digits in strikeouts.

“I’m pitching the ball good, locating the fastball,” said Snell, who has a 1.03 ERA over his last eight starts. “Everything’s starting to come together.”

Sears, the most effective A’s starter over the last six weeks, had nine strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings. He yielded seven hits and one run.

2024.08.18 – Giants vs. Athletics (NBC Sports: Post Recap)

San Francisco Giants Matt Chapman #26 (top) tags out Oakland Athletics’ JJ Bleday (bottom) during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum on August 18, 2024 in Oakland, California.Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images

2024.08.18 – Giants vs. Athletics (NBC Sports: Post Recap)

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2024.08.18 – Giants vs. Athletics (NBC Sports: Post Recap)

Encarnación and Tyler Fitzgerald each had two hits for the Giants, who were shut out by Oakland 2-0 on Saturday.

“It was a great two days,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “Both of these games were exciting. It’s a fun way to (end) the Bay Bridge Series, even though we ended up losing.”

Ramos hit his 18th home run leading off the seventh against Sears. The drive traveled an estimated 448 feet and had an exit velocity of 110.5 mph.

“With the safety, trying to bunt home a run there — Yaz is good there, but it didn’t work. Fitzy on the bases, we had to try to start a runner and do something,” Melvin said. “We’re just trying to push it to score a run for both reasons.”

Down a run in the seventh, the Giants didn’t need to steal 90 feet to get their first run of the series. Ramos left no doubt when he made contact with Sears’ changeup, crushing a homer that cleared the deepest part of the Coliseum outfield 448 feet away, nearly slipping into the suites that loom over center field. It was the longest home run of Ramos’ career and the second longest hit by a San Francisco batter at the Coliseum (behind Jarrett Parker’s 454-foot homer in 2015).

“I mean, he smashed that,” Snell said. “I was like, ‘Oh, it’s gonna get out, gonna get out.’ Then when it hit the window, I was like, ‘What? ’”

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2024.08.18 – Giants vs. Athletics (Locked On: Post Recap)

Pitcher Blake Snell #7 of the San Francisco Giants reacts after the third out in the bottom of the seventh inning against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum on August 18, 2024 in Oakland, California.Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images

2024.08.18 – Giants vs. Athletics (Locked On: Post Recap)

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2024.08.18 – Giants vs. Athletics (Locked On: Post Recap)

Said Melvin: “I just made the comment, ‘How many innings is this guy going to shut us out? Just as I made that comment, (Ramos) hit the homer.”

Sears threw seven scoreless innings in the A’s 5-2 win at Oracle Park on July 30.

The A’s scored their lone run off Snell in the sixth.

Daz Cameron and Brent Rooker singled with one out. Cameron scored on Miguel Andujar’s two-out single just before right fielder Mike Yastrzemski threw out JJ Bleday at third.