Jerar Encarnación and Michael Conforto hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the 10th inning, leading the San Francisco Giants to a 4-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday in the final game of the Bay Bridge Series.
Heliot Ramos also hit a home run to contribute to the struggling Giants’ second win in their last seven games.
Encarnación hit a home run on the first pitch he saw from Dany Jiménez (1-3), breaking a 1-1 tie and bringing Matt Chapman, the automatic runner at second base, across the plate.
Conforto followed with a pinch-hit home run, drawing cheers from the crowd of 32,727 at the Coliseum, many of whom were wearing Giants colors.
“Don’t you expect a game like this to end this place and the series between the Giants and the A’s?” said Giants manager Bob Melvin, who managed the A’s from 2011-21.
“It almost had to happen like that. We were trying to manufacture a run however we could. Didn’t look good for a while but then a couple big swings that we’ve been missing ended up winning the game for us. And they didn’t go quietly.”
Oakland managed to score an unearned run in the bottom of the 10th and loaded the bases with no outs. Ryan Walker (8-3), recently promoted to closer for the Giants, struck out the next three batters, including Shea Langeliers, to end the game.
“I feel more calm when (the bases are) juiced,” Walker said. “Once that happened, I wasn’t worried. I just focused on making my pitches.”
After the game, Giants third baseman Matt Chapman asked for and received one of the bases used at third base. Chapman played his first five seasons in the majors with the A’s at the Coliseum.
“That was pretty cool,” Chapman said as he walked through the clubhouse. The A’s are set to play in Sacramento for the next three years before they plan to move to Las Vegas for the 2028 season.
The game ended after a pitching duel between San Francisco ace Blake Snell and Oakland lefty JP Sears.
