A’s take down Giants 7-2

The Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants squared off on Friday at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona. This is the second matchup of spring training between these Bay Area rivals. Righty James Kaprielian took the mound for the A’s against Giants free agent signee Ross Stripling.

Both teams commemorated St. Patrick’s Day; with the Giants wearing special green caps and the A’s wearing their traditional green jerseys and caps.

The A’s kicked off the scoring when Seth Brown singled to right, driving in Aledmys Diaz who had doubled.

The A’s jumped to a 3-0 lead when Cristian Pache continued his hot hitting, driving in Conner Capel and Jace Peterson with a sharp single to left. Pache, batting .364, is making his case for one of the final roster spots this spring.

San Francisco got on the board in the 3^rd Inning when Joc Peterson, fresh from his stint with Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), drove in Bryce Johnson who led off the inning with a single.

Tony Kemp extended the lead to 4-1 when he singled home Ramon Laureano in the bottom of the 4^th.

Kaprielian was sharp for four innings holding the Giants to five hits, no walks, only 1 earned run and 4 K’s. Trevor May replaced him and pitched a scoreless inning striking out all 3 batters he faced. Domingo Acevedo pitched a scoreless sixth inning for the A’s. Chad Smith continued the streak of scoreless innings by retiring all three batters he faced in the 7^th.

The Giants scored in the top of the 8^th when Brett Auerbach singled off of Drew Steckenrider, driving in Bryce Jonson for his second run of the day.

The A’s answered in the bottom of the 8^th as Brent Rooker drove in Tyler Wade with a single to right field. With bases loaded, Ryan Noda drove in Kevin Smith with an infield single. The A’s 14^th hit of the day brought the score to 6-2. Rooker then scored on a Denzel Clarke groundout to third; bringing the score to 7-2.

Charles Hall came in to pitch the 9^th. After a leadoff walk, he ended the Giants’ day with a double play ball and strike out.

Martín Gallegos tweeted that Manny Piña flew to Atlanta to visit with Dr. Lourie regarding his left wrist issue. Lourie is the doctor who performed Piña’s season-ending surgery on the same wrist last year.

These teams will meet next on March 26, when they head back to the bay to resume the rivalry at Oakland Coliseum. (TV: NBCSCA, Radio: A’s Cast, Bloomberg 960 AM/103.7 HD2)