*Photo from the San Francisco Chronicle*
What a finale it was. Jerar Encarnacion broke the tie with a homer, Michael Conforto added insurance, and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Oakland Athletics with a 4-2 victory Sunday afternoon in Oakland.
With the Athletics moving to Sacramento and then Las Vegas, this game represented the final game of the historic Bay Bridge Series, a series that started when the two teams met in the 1989 World Series in a matchup that also featured an earthquake. It didn't stop the A's from sweeping the Giants and winning the championship.
It was the Giants who won the final game of the series, although the A's won the first game as they split the final matchups in California between them. All time, it's the A's who end on top as they have a 76-72 record against the Giants since the Bay Bridge Series began.
Giants manager Bob Melvin, who also managed the A's for a decade, said "It was kind of appropriate that the game ended like that. When I was here, we had so many walk-offs and so many extra-inning wins and so many close games. The fans are going crazy. Both sides going crazy. I don’t know how it could have been more perfect to end it like this, obviously, with us winning."
After the first 5 innings were scoreless, the A's took a 1-0 lead in the 6th inning as Miguel Andujar singled to right field to drive in Daz Cameron. In the 7th inning, the Giants came up with a response as Heliot Ramos hit a solo home run to center field, tying the game 1-1. In the top of the 10th, Encarnacion broke the tie with a two run shot to make it 3-1 Giants.
The very next batter after Encarnacion was Conforto, who belted a solo home run to right field to pad the Giants lead to 4-1 on his 13th long ball of the season. In the bottom of the 10th, the A's cut into the deficit when Lawrence Butler scored as Max Schuemann reached base on an error. The Giants managed to seal the win after that.
Blake Snell was the starting pitcher for the Giants, allowing one run on 6 hits while racking up 10 strikeouts in 7 innings pitched. Tyler Rogers worked a scoreless 8th inning before Ryan Walker pitched the final two innings, striking out 5 batters to seal the win.
JP Sears got the start for the A's, allowing a run on 7 hits, striking out 9 hitters while pitching 7 2/3 innings. Tyler Ferguson got the last out of the 8th before Mason Miller pitched a scoreless 9th inning. Dany Jimenez allowed 3 runs in the 10th and took the loss.
After the game, Sears said of the Bay Bridge series "It's nothing better than playing for a crowd here in Oakland, having such a big stadium. It just brings a lot of buzz to the stadium, and it's a lot easier to show up for those games and be ready to go. It's been a lot of fun, the past several days, to have those fans."
Both teams are at home for their next series beginning Monday night. Kyle Harrison is lined up to start for the Giants as the Chicago White Sox come to town, while the A's host the Tampa Bay Rays with Joe Boyle set to start.
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