bay bridge series

Giants Observations: Offense Supports Carlos Rodon in Win Vs. Athletics

What we learned as Rodón, offense fuel win over A's originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

OAKLAND -- A trip across the Bay Bridge was just what the Giants needed.

After a rare Friday rest day, San Francisco put the memories of another painful four-game sweep by the Los Angeles Dodgers behind itself and defeated the Bay Area rival Athletics 7-3 on Saturday night in front of 40,065 fans at the Oakland Coliseum.

Facing A's right-handed pitcher Adam Oller, who entered the game with a 7.68 ERA, the Giants scrapped together two runs over the first five innings but exploded for four runs in the sixth.

LaMonte Wade Jr. and J.D. Davis mashed back-to-back bombs in that game-defining frame, capped off with a run-scoring single from Brandon Belt. Joey Bart launched a no-doubt 403-foot homer in the seventh to put the contest out of reach.

Despite the Giants' win Saturday night, they will have to beat the A's again on Sunday afternoon to hoist the Tom Pellack Memorial Bridge Trophy.

Here are three takeaways from the Giants’ win:

'Freaking win'

One of the biggest names thrown around ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline, Rodón made his first start since president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi opted to keep him in San Francisco.

“(Now) let’s try to freaking win,” Rodón said hours after the deadline had passed. “That’s my thought. We’re here, might as well do it. We’re not showing up for no reason.”

It wasn’t easy, but Rodón responded by holding the A's to one run across 5 1/3 innings to earn the victory. He labored through 98 pitches, logged just three strikeouts and allowed eight hard-hit balls, but the A's offense couldn't string together enough damage to put up a crooked number.

The Giants have two wins in the Bay Bridge Series this summer. Both were started by Rodón.

Gone, and gone again

The Giants' offense looked drowsy after notching a 2-1 lead in the early innings. Wade provided the club with a much-needed jolt.

With Bart standing on first base, Wade launched a 1-2 fastball from Oller into the right field seats. It was his fourth homer of the season and first since the All-Star break. 

When A's manager Mark Kotsay made a call to his bullpen to replace Oller, Davis -- acquired by the Giants in the Darin Ruf trade on Tuesday -- greeted reliever Kirby Snead to the mound with a 437-foot blast on the very next pitch.

Davis has now hit two dingers in the orange and black, a fact he might not have believed 10 years ago.

A sight for sore eyes

Reinstated from the 7-day concussion injured list ahead of Saturday’s game, Pederson led off the contest by drawing a walk. A few batters later, he completed his trip around the diamond when Brandon Crawford, also activated Saturday, drew a bases-loaded walk to bring Pederson home.

Pederson notched a run-scoring single in the second to give San Francisco a 2-0 lead. His third and final at-bat before Austin Slater pinch-hit in the sixth was a 108.9-mph screaming line drive that was caught but went down as the game's hardest-hit ball.

Crawford, playing in his first game since July 15, went 1-for-3 with a walk and a double.

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