A's Dominate Samardzija, Take 1st Game of Bay Bridge Series

Going into yesterday's ballgame, the San Francisco Giants were one of the best teams in baseball, while the Oakland A's were one of the worst, solely regarding team record.

Based on how both teams performed last night, it must have been Opposite Day.

In Jeff Samardzija's first experience in the Battle of the Bay, his June blues continued, as the A's had their way with the tall right-hander in his six innings of work.

Following a 1-2-3 first inning, Oakland bat around the lineup and jumped on the Shark for five runs in the second, which came by way of a Khris Davis double, a booming Marcus Semien three-run home run, and a Jed Lowrie double.

The A's feasted on Samardzija's location mistakes in the second inning, as he left his pitches up over the strike zone, and because he can hit the mid-90s on his pitches, all Oakland had to do was make contact.

Semien's home run summed up his location mistakes during the night, as the pitch the Oakland shortstop crushed was a 1-2 hanging slider right over the heart of the plate.

Samardzija's inability to hit his targets have haunted him all June long. At the conclusion of this start, the total amount of home runs he allowed in the first month of summer hit nine after only allowing five in April and May combined.

To the A's credit, they didn't try to do too much with the ball either, as they went with Samardzija's pitches and found the gaps.

Davis' and Lowrie's doubles were all the more impressive in that they both somehow just made it past the outstretched gloves of Denard Span and Gregor Blanco, who both have excellent range and above-average gloves in the outfield.

Semien and Davis were Oakland's biggest contributors on offense, combining for four hits and six RBIs. Danny Valencia continued his excellent season with a three-hit night as well.

Samardzija gave up one more run in the sixth inning, and ended his day just like teammate Johnny Cueto the day before, having given up six runs in six innings.

San Francisco rookie Chris Stratton relieved Samardzija of his duties after the sixth inning and ate up innings to keep the rest of the Giants' bullpen rested and healthy.

The Giants have a span of twenty games in twenty days, and Bruce Bochy is going to need his bullpen ready to go heading into the summertime heat, so the decision to keep a shaky Stratton in the game for three innings was warranted.

Stratton's outing was his first in six days, so there was a little rust, and it took him 57 pitches to get through his three innings of work, but the rookie worked through a couple of stress innings and got some brownie points with Bochy.

While Cueto's woes were erased by the sound San Francisco offense, Samardzija did not have that privilege as his opposition, Daniel Mengden, on the other hand, was nothing short of excellent on the mound.

The rookie, rocking high socks with stripes and a mustache that would make any die-hard baseball fan swear he was the reincarnation of Rollie Fingers, had the best start of his short career, and it could not have come against a more appropriate opponent.

With his funky delivery that makes Johnny Cueto's windup look boring and normal, Mengden looked more like an established veteran with a pair of Cy Young Awards in his back pocket than a rookie making only his fourth start of his career.

The 23-year-old retired the first thirteen batters he faced, and with the way he was slicing and dicing Bruce Bochy's lineup, there was a not-so-crazy thought looming around AT&T that the rookie might throw a perfect game.

Mengden fell short of achieving the Holy Grail of pitching achievements, and he'd have to settle for the first win of his career, which is quite the accomplishment as well.

The win came after Mengden was handed the loss in his first three starts, although undeservingly because he allowed three or fewer runs in each of those starts while pitching an average of six innings.

The Giants were able to tax Mengden for two runs in the eighth, but neither of them came on base hits.

Ramiro Peña continues to take advantage of his uptick in playing time, totaling two hits in four at-bats and bumping his average to .414 in ten games.

Angel Pagan had just the one hit in three trips to the plate, but he extended his hitting streak to eight games. The outfielder also broke up Mengden's perfect game bid with one out in the fifth inning.

#recap