Casey Schmitt's 2 homers, Trevor McDonald's pitching help Giants top A's
WEST SACRAMENTO - Casey Schmitt got in his homer to left before the wind started howling in from that direction, batting down just about every other drive that way at Sutter Health Park on Saturday night.
After a single in his second at-bat, the San Francisco Giants' DH went with the wind to right, going the other way to clank a homer off the foul pole, a two-run shot that helped to power the Giants' 6-4 victory over the A's. The wind is expected to be even more blustery for Sunday's day game, the rubber match.
"Casey did kind of lead the way," Giants manager Tony Vitello said.
"I wasn't really trying to hit a homer or anything," said Schmitt, whose eight lead the team. "I was just trying to hit a line drive and I was able to get it in the air. … I'm just working on things, keeping things pretty simple."
Schmitt had a four-hit game and Willy Adames added three hits, including a two-out, two-run single in the third (though he was thrown out trying to stretch for second, the second time Saturday he was thrown out on the bases). One of the most important hits of the night for the Giants, though, might have been Matt Chapman's RBI double in the seventh.
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Chapman has been in a dreadful slump, going 6 for his previous 63, and 3 for his past 20 with runners in scoring position before drilling the double over third on an 0-2 curveball from Scott Barlow.
"At some point you do kind of need that carrot at the end of the stick or that outcome to go your way, and the one over third base was one where you can just get a little reward, get a little sense of relief," Vitello said, adding that "and the swings we've seen recently hopefully are a really good combination for him."
Giants 6, A's 4
San Francisco
AB
R
H
BI
BB
SO
Avg.
Totals
42
6
14
6
2
11
Lee rf
5
1
1
0
0
0
.263
Arraez 2b
3
2
1
0
2
0
.318
Schmitt dh
5
2
4
3
0
1
.293
Devers 1b
5
1
2
0
0
3
.247
Adames ss
5
0
3
2
0
0
.235
Chapman 3b
5
0
1
1
0
2
.216
Gilbert lf
5
0
2
0
0
2
.234
Bader cf
5
0
0
0
0
3
.147
Rodriguez c
4
0
0
0
0
0
.214
Athletics
AB
R
H
BI
BB
SO
Avg.
Totals
32
4
6
4
3
8
Kurtz 1b
3
1
0
0
1
1
.270
Langeliers c
3
1
1
0
1
0
.337
Soderstrom lf
3
0
1
0
0
0
.199
Rooker dh
4
1
2
3
0
0
.204
Bolte cf
3
0
0
0
0
2
.385
a-Cortes ph-rf
1
0
0
0
0
1
.340
Gelof 3b
4
0
0
0
0
1
.247
Butler rf-cf
2
1
0
0
1
1
.176
b-Thomas ph
1
0
0
0
0
0
.345
Hernaiz ss
4
0
2
0
0
1
.265
McNeil 2b
3
0
0
1
0
1
.278
c-Heim ph
1
0
0
0
0
0
.000
San Francisco
102
020
100_6
14
0
Athletics
000
010
030_4
6
2
a-struck out for Bolte in the 8th. b-flied out for Butler in the 9th. c-grounded out for McNeil in the 9th.
E: Kurtz (1), Gelof (1). LOB: San Francisco 11, Athletics 5. 2B: Adames (14), Arraez (9), Devers (10), Chapman (9), Gilbert (2), Soderstrom (14), Hernaiz (1). 3B: Gilbert (1). HR: Schmitt 2 (8), off Severino; Rooker (6), off Kilian. RBIs: Schmitt 3 (21), Adames 2 (13), Chapman (15), McNeil (14), Rooker 3 (21).
Runners left in scoring position: San Francisco 7 (Rodriguez 3, Schmitt, Bader 3); Athletics 3 (Gelof, Rooker, McNeil). RISP: San Francisco 3 for 17; Athletics 1 for 7.
GIDP: Rooker.
DP: San Francisco 1 (Arraez, Devers).
San Francisco
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
NP
ERA
McDonald, W, 2-0
6
2-3
5
1
1
1
5
90
2.37
Miller
2-3
0
2
2
2
1
24
4.50
Kilian
2-3
1
1
1
0
2
9
1.80
Gage, S, 1-1
1
0
0
0
0
0
15
1.40
Athletics
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
NP
ERA
Severino, L, 2-5
6
10
5
5
2
7
96
4.45
Barlow
1
2
1
1
0
2
16
3.38
Leiter
2
2
0
0
0
2
25
6.86
Inherited runners-scored: Miller 1-0, Kilian 2-2. HBP: McDonald (Soderstrom).
ABS Challenge: McDonald (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Devers (Strike-Confirmed); Gilbert (Strike-Overturned to Ball).
Umpires: Home, Cory Blaser; First, Steven Jaschinski; Second, Jansen Visconti; Third, Alex Tosi.
T: 2:34. A: 12,489 (14,014).
All of the offense was notable, really, for a team that continues to bring up the rear when it comes to runs, walks and homers. Baserunning, an area Vitello has mentioned as an issue several times lately, isn't all that pretty, either. Giants runners entered the game scoring 26% of the time after reaching base, tied with Texas for the worst in the majors; Adames' 27% is the worst of his career, and he has been thrown out on the bases a team-high four times this year, including trying to go from second to third on a comebacker Saturday.
Vitello said both outs Adames ran into were of the aggressive variety rather than simple mistakes, so he was not as bothered. "As long as guys have a plan and they're convicted and you see them running full speed, it's hard to gripe too much about that," he said.
Trevor McDonald continues to do nice work as a rotation fill in while Logan Webb is out with a knee injury. Webb is likely to be back within a week, but McDonald potentially could stick in the bullpen after putting up a 2.37 ERA in three starts, and, as Vitello put it, "smothering the strike zone." It might make even more sense, though, for the Giants to have McDonald keep making regular starts at Triple-A Sacramento so he stays stretched out and sharp should the big-league club have a need later.
Saturday, McDonald was playing in the park where he usually pitches for the River Cats, so there was a strong sense of familiarity.
"It's weird," he said. "It's weird having all the fans here. It's not like that when the River Cats play, so they definitely show up more for these games."
McDonald went 6⅔ innings and allowed five hits and one run - the only walk he issued turned into a run on a groundout in the fifth. He struck out five, including imposing Nick Kurtz in the fifth with a man on and a run in, then got Shea Langeliers to line out right back to him.
"I think that ball caught me," McDonald said of the 104 mph drive. "It was so quick, it was just a reflex."
Left-hander Erik Miller, just off the injured list, got the final out of the seventh but he walked the first two batters in the eighth and with one out, Caleb Kilian took over and gave up a three-run homer to Brent Rooker, the third homer Kilian has allowed in his 20 innings.
Matt Gage then finished with a 1-2-3 ninth for his first career save.
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