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Athletics Are One Win Away From Sweeping The Giants

By Ana Kieu

Apr 19, 2016; Bronx, NY, USA; Oakland Athletics center fielder Coco Crisp (4) right fielder Josh Reddick (22) and center fielder Billy Burns (1) celebrate their win against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. The Athletics defeated the Yankees 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 19, 2016; Bronx, NY, USA; Oakland Athletics center fielder Coco Crisp (4) right fielder Josh Reddick (22) and center fielder Billy Burns (1) celebrate their win against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. The Athletics defeated the Yankees 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Bay Bridge Series shifted to the East Bay, where the red-hot Oakland Athletics were dominant once again.

What was once the Giants’ subordinate is now their biggest pest. The Oakland Athletics kept rolling after winning seven of their last 10 games.

The pitching matchup for Game 3 was definitely less than average. Sean Manaea and Jake Peavy were statistically terrible pitchers. Despite recently coming off the disabled list, Manaea was the better pitcher, tossing 5 2/3 scoreless innings. Peavy lasted only 3 1/3 innings.

A’s center fielder Billy Burns broke a scoreless deadlock in the bottom of the third with a sacrifice bunt that scored Marcus Semien. Oakland’s surge continued as Coco Crisp legged out a triple. Then, Jed Lowrie knocked one over the right field wall with some assistance from a right fielder for a two-run homer. The A’s led 3-0 after three innings.

The Giants were in trouble and that wasn’t an understatement. Late in the fourth, a pitch went right down the field and Yonder Alonso scored his second home run of the season to make it 5-0 A’s. The A’s just kept adding to their lead as Burns hit an RBI double to give his team a 6-0 lead. Burns then scored on a Crisp single to expand the A’s lead to 7-0.

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Basically, the A’s poured in the runs in the third and fourth innings. There were a lot of happy A’s fans in the stands. Giants fans, not so much. The Giants’ relief pitchers from their bullpen did a decent job in the second half of the ballgame, but the damage was already done by the A’s.

The Giants finally got on the board in the top of the eighth, but that was their only run of the ballgame. Brandon Crawford hit a sacrifice fly to center, which allowed Brandon Belt to score. Game 3 was in favor of the A’s, who made a statement with a 7-1 win over the Giants.

The Giants played sloppy baseball, committed some errors and were unable to recover from an early deficit. They haven’t figured out how to get past the A’s yet.

Next: Let's Not Forget About Billy Burns

The A’s flipped the script on the Giants. Well at least for three games. Do you think the A’s will complete a four-game sweep of their interleague rival?