Heliot Ramos homered and later drove in the tie-breaking run with a single in the eighth to lift the San Francisco Giants to a 3-2 win against the visiting Athletics on Sunday afternoon and complete a sweep of the three-game series.
Tyler Ferguson (0-2) started the eighth with the Athletics leading 2-1, but he surrendered a lead-off triple into the right-center field gap by pinch hitter LaMonte Wade Jr.
Patrick Bailey then grounded a pinch-hit single up the middle with the infield in to tie the score. Bailey advanced to second on Christian Koss’ sacrifice bunt and came home on Ramos’ single grounded to left for a 3-2 lead. Ramos was thrown out trying to run to second on the play.
The longest winless streak in the 20-year career for Giants starter Justin Verlander stretched to 10 starts after he was lifted following four erratic innings. The three-time Cy Young winner allowed two runs and three hits, struck out one and walked five.
Spencer Bivens, Erik Miller and Randy Rodriguez (3-0) combined for four innings of shutout relief before Ryan Walker pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save.
The comeback spoiled another exceptional outing by A’s left-hander Jeffrey Springs.
He allowed one run and two hits over 6 2/3 innings, striking out five without a walk.
Springs, who came in 2-0 in three starts this month with a 1.50 ERA, gave up a home run on his first pitch of the game to Ramos, but then retired 20 in a row, never pitching out of the stretch.
Jacob Wilson had two hits and Lawrence Butler drove in two runs for the A’s.
The A’s loaded the bases in the first on Wilson’s one-out double and back-to-back two-out walks by Verlander, but Nick Kurtz flew out to shallow left.
The A’s loaded the bases again in the fourth on Luis Urias’ double and two more two-out walks and Verlander didn’t escape the jam this time. Butler hit the next pitch up the middle for a two-run single to give the A’s a 2-1 lead.
Matt Chapman singled to center field with two outs in the seventh to end Springs’ stretch of 20 consecutive outs and also end his day. Justin Sterner came in and walked Willy Adames, but then got pinch hitter Mike Yastrzemski to fly out to end the threat.
–Field Level Media
