OAKLAND - To make a run at a division title, the Giants need Dereck Rodriguez to match his big first half. Perhaps the rookie has bigger plans.
Rodriguez took the ball on the first night of the second half and allowed just one run on three hits against a tough A's lineup. He departed with one out in the seventh and the bullpen took it home, clinching a 5-1 win that evened this Bay Bridge series at two games apiece.
Here's what you need to know from the first game back...
--- Rodriguez walked none and struck out five. He lowered his ERA to 2.72.
--- With Brandon Belt on the paternity list, Ryder Jones was called up for a spot start. He certainly made the most of it. Jones jumped on a 2-0 slider from Edwin Jackson in the fifth, smacking a homer off the right field foul pole. The blast was the third of the 24-year-old's career. He hit two last season as a rookie.
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--- Andrew McCutchen had a pair of sliding catches. The robbery of Jonathan Lucroy in the fifth inning had a catch probability of just 66 percent.
--- Pablo Sandoval hit a no-doubter to right in the seventh inning. It was his 14th homer since returning to the Giants last summer, matching his total in Boston.
--- The A's announced a crowd of 45,606, a sellout. They're expecting a few thousand more on Saturday.
