What we learned as Giants’ offense spoils Birdsong’s strong outing originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
OAKLAND – The Giants appeared to have left their offense on the other side of the Bay Bridge Saturday when they visited the Oakland Athletics for the final Battle of the Bay series at the Coliseum.
San Francisco failed to score a single run and had just four hits as it was shut out in a 2-0 loss in the first contest of the two-game set this weekend.
Emotions were high entering the end of an era for the two Bay Area teams, but Giants manager Bob Melvin encouraged his guys to focus on baseball as they eyed the National League’s third wild card spot and were itching to shake off a forgettable series against the Atlanta Braves.
But Saturday’s showing wasn’t as encouraging as fans might have hoped.
One of the few bright spots of the game was Hayden Birdsong, who was solid through 4 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and one unearned run with five walks.
But Birdsong didn’t receive run support, and frankly, no one else did either.
Here are the takeaways from San Francisco’s 2-0 loss:
A snoozy offense
It took the Giants six innings – 82 minutes to be exact – to get their first hit of the game.
And who other than Giants rookie Grant McCray, who was just promoted three days ago, to end Athletics starter Osvaldo Bido’s no-hit bid.
McCray’s swinging bunt single was San Francisco’s first hit of the night, and its first opportunity to string together some momentum.
Tyler Fitzgerald walked in the next at-bat, marking the first time in the game that more than one Giants runner on base at the same time.
But LaMonte Wade Jr. struck out swinging and Heliot Ramos lined out to center to end the inning – and San Francisco’s hopes of making any noise on offense.
Birdsong bounces back
Birdsong has recently dealt with his first taste of big-league adversity in his previous starts against the Washington Nationals and Detroit Tigers last week after allowing a combined 12 earned runs in six innings of work.
He entered Saturday’s game still confident and ready to get back on track and find his command, which he did for the most part.
The 22-year-old righty tossed four scoreless innings before getting into a funk in the fifth. The A’s loaded the bases and got their first run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Lawrence Butler to score Zack Gelof. Birdsong was then pulled and replaced by Spencer Bivens, who escaped the inning with no further damage.
Birdsong’s final line was: 4 1/3 IP, three hits, one earned run, three walks and five strikeouts.
McCray flashes versatile speed
McCray is ticking all his rookie boxes during his first week in the big leagues.
In his second game with San Francisco, the 23-year-old had his first big-league hit against the Braves on Thursday at Oracle Park. Four innings later, he smashed his first career homer.
On Saturday, the young centerfielder showed off his speed to make an unbelievable diving catch that prevented a hit by the A’s.
A few moments later on the other side of the ball, he used his speed to reach first base after bunting — which was San Francisco’s first hit of the game.
Source Agencies
