OAKLAND — The good news is the Giants didn’t make any unfortunate history in the penultimate Battle of the Bay.
The bad news was just about everything else about their offense in a 2-0 loss to the Athletics, which sent them back below .500 (62-63) and another game back in the National League wild card race (3½ behind Atlanta, still yet to play).
In front of one of the largest Coliseum crowds expected before the A’s leave for Sacramento after this season, journeyman right-hander Osvaldo Bido nearly treated the split-allegiance 37,551 on hand to the first no-hitter in the teams’ 147 meetings since the A’s made this a two-team market in 1968.
It took a swinging bunt and one of the fastest dashes up the first-base line by a Giants player this season to avoid the ignominious distinction.
Bido let out a yell of frustration after rookie center fielder Grant McCray barely made contact with a changeup off the plate, sent it spinning at 67.3 mph up the third base line and made it to first base at a rate of 30.8 feet per second (30.0 is considered elite).
With one out in the sixth inning, the infield single broke up the 28-year-old’s no-hit bid, and the Giants produced only three more hits the rest of the afternoon — two from Mark Canha, who entered as a pinch-hitter in the seventh, and a hustle double from McCray, who flashed his speed again to lead off the eighth inning.
Despite getting a runner into scoring position with nobody out and the top of their lineup coming up, the Giants weren’t able to advance McCray 90 feet, let alone the 180 it would have taken to get on the scoreboard. Tyler Fitzgerald watched strike three, LaMonte Wade Jr. popped out to short, and presented with a middle-middle changeup on a 3-1 count, Heliot Ramos rolled over for a soft grounder to short.
The Giants were shut out for only the fourth time this season but the second time this week, after a 1-0 loss to the Braves on Monday. In eight games since they returned home from taking consecutive series in Cincinnati and Washington, the Giants have been held to four or fewer runs seven times while batting .199 (52-for-261).
After back-to-back clunkers, Hayden Birdsong turned in his strongest outing since the calendar flipped to August, limiting the A’s to one run on three hits and three walks while striking out five over 4⅔ innings, but the focus for the majority of the game was on the hits — not the runs — column.
Both starters authored shutouts for four innings, until the A’s started the fifth with a pair of singles — only their second and third hits — and Lawrence Butler drove a one-out fly ball deep enough to center to drive home Zack Gelof from third and open a 1-0 lead.
With Birdsong at 78 pitches and two runners still on base, that was enough for manager Bob Melvin to call on Spencer Bivens, who got out of the inning with the help of a spectacular play from Brett Wisely, ranging to the shortstop side of the second base bag to turn a potential RBI hit from Brent Rooker into the third out.
Bivens wasn’t so fortunate the following inning, as Seth Brown snuck a single to the left of a diving Wisely to drive home Miguel Andujar, whose one-out double was one of only two extra base hits from either team, that extended Oakland’s advantage to 2-0.
After splitting two games at Oracle Park last month, the Giants fell to 71-76 all-time in their regular season meetings against the A’s and must win Sunday afternoon’s series finale to avoid losing the Bay Bridge trophy for the final time. But they have other stakes to be concerned about.
After wrapping up their series Sunday, just six of the Giants’ remaining 37 games come against teams at or below .500, meaning they will be tasked climbing the wild card standings almost exclusively against teams already in playoff position.
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Notable
RHP Randy Rodriguez, who was shut down earlier this week with elbow inflammation, will be examined by the team’s head physician, Dr. Ken Akizuki, this weekend.
RHP Tristan Beck (vascular surgery) is getting closer to giving the Giants another rotation option, scheduled to throw four innings Sunday in his third rehab appearance.
IF Wilmer Flores (right knee tendonitis) was transferred to the 60-day IL, ruling him out until the final week of the season.
Up next
The last-ever meeting between the Giants and Athletics in Oakland will feature LHP Blake Snell (2-3, 3.91) against LHP JP Sears (10-8, 4.32). First pitch at the Coliseum is scheduled for 1:07 p.m.
