The Athletics finally flipped one back.
After a four-game skid and too many late-inning gut punches, the A’s scored seven unanswered runs Thursday afternoon to beat the San Francisco Giants 9-6 at Oracle Park. The win moved the Athletics to 39-42 before the road trip shifted south.
The early answer
San Francisco scored first, but the A’s answered in the fifth.
Willy Adames hit a solo homer off Jeffrey Springs in the fourth, giving the Giants a 1-0 lead. Then the Athletics put traffic together against Landen Roupp.
Jeff McNeil singled, and Alika Williams followed with an RBI double to tie the game. Soon after, Henry Bolte singled and Nick Kurtz hit into a forceout that scored Williams.
As a result, the A’s grabbed a 2-1 lead.
The sixth gets away
Springs had the lead with one out in the sixth, but San Francisco turned the game fast.
Bryce Eldridge walked, Casey Schmitt singled and Matt Krook entered for Springs. Krook struck out Rafael Devers, but Adames walked to load the bases.
Then Jung Hoo Lee cleared them with a triple to center, putting the Giants ahead 4-2. Victor Bericoto followed with a two-run homer off Justin Sterner, and San Francisco led 6-2.
Springs allowed three runs on three hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out six.
The climb starts
The A’s did not fold after the five-run sixth.
In the seventh, McNeil singled and Williams followed with another hit. Then Bolte moved both runners over before Kurtz walked to load the bases.
Shea Langeliers delivered the first big swing of the comeback. He singled up the middle with two outs, scoring McNeil and Williams to cut the deficit to 6-4.
Then the A’s added another run in the eighth. Lawrence Butler doubled, and McNeil singled him home to make it 6-5.
Ninth-inning finish
The ninth finally belonged to the A’s.
Bolte opened with a single, and he moved to second on Caleb Kilian’s wild pitch. After two outs, Tyler Soderstrom worked a walk after an ABS challenge overturned the call.
Then Jonah Heim tied it with a ground-ball single to left. Butler followed with a go-ahead single to right, scoring Soderstrom and putting the A’s ahead 7-6.
Max Muncy gave them breathing room. He singled to left, scoring Heim and Butler for a 9-6 lead.
Hartlieb closes the bridge
Geoff Hartlieb made the comeback possible.
Hartlieb threw two scoreless innings, allowing no hits and one walk. He earned his first major league win since 2020, giving the A’s a needed bridge after San Francisco’s sixth-inning surge.
Then Mason Barnett handled the ninth. He struck out Bericoto and retired Eric Haase and Drew Gilbert to earn his second save.
Numbers that mattered
The Athletics finished with nine runs and 15 hits. The Giants had six runs on five hits.
Bolte went 3-for-5 and scored the opening run of the ninth. McNeil went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, while Williams went 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI.
Also, Butler went 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs. Muncy drove in two, and Langeliers also added two RBIs.
In the end, the A’s needed this one. They had watched late leads disappear on the trip, but this time they were the team still swinging at the finish.
Up next
The Athletics open a three-game series against the Angels on Friday at Angel Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:38 p.m. PDT.
J.T. Ginn gets the ball for the A’s. The right-hander enters at 5-4 with a 3.16 ERA and 73 strikeouts.
Across from him, Los Angeles turns to right-hander José Ureña, who enters at 5-5 with a 2.41 ERA and 64 strikeouts.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Las Vegas Aces, Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
