Hayden Birdsong Strong But Bats Go Quiet in Loss – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

Match result

OAKLAND — The Giants appeared to have left their offense on the other side of the Bay Bridge Saturday when they visited the Oakland Athletics for the final Battle of the Bay series at the Coliseum.

San Francisco failed to score a point and had just four hits as they lost 2-0 in the first game of this week’s two-game set.

Emotions were high as an era for the Bay Area teams entered its end, but New York Giants coach Bob Melvin encouraged his players to focus on baseball as they looked to secure the third wild card in the National League and were eager to put an end to a memorable series against the Atlanta Braves.

But Saturday’s performance was not as encouraging as fans had hoped.

Hayden Birdsong was one of the few bright spots in the game, pitching solidly through 4 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and one earned run with five assists.

But Birdsong didn’t get any support, and frankly, neither did anyone else.

Here are the key takeaways from San Francisco’s 2-0 loss:

Sleepy crime

It took the Giants six innings — 82 minutes, to be exact — to record the game’s first hit.

And who else but new signing Grant McRae, promoted just three days ago, could end the hitless run of Athletics starter Osvaldo Piedo.

McRae’s swinging strike was San Francisco’s first hit of the night, and their first chance to build some momentum.

Tyler Fitzgerald homered for the next batter, marking the first time in a game that more than one New York Giants runner reached base at the same time.

But Lamonte Wade Jr. came off the field swinging, and Heliot Ramos came out to center to end the inning — and San Francisco’s hopes of making any noise on offense.

Birds singing back

Birdsong recently dealt with his first major league experience in his previous starts against the Washington Nationals and Detroit Tigers last week after allowing 12 earned runs in six innings of work.

He entered Saturday’s game still confident and ready to get back on track and find his stride, which he did for the most part.

The 22-year-old right-hander threw four innings without scoring a run before collapsing in the fifth. Oakland loaded the bases and scored their first run of the game on a Lawrence Butler sacrifice fly to score Zach Geloff. Birdsong then came out and was replaced by Spencer Bivins, who survived the inning without further injury.

Birdsong’s final line was: 4 1/3 IP, three hits, one earned run, three assists and five strikeouts.

McRae shows versatile speed

McCray meets all the requirements of a rookie during his first week in the big leagues.

In his second game with San Francisco, the 23-year-old recorded his first major league hit against the Braves on Thursday at Oracle Park. After four innings, he hit his first career no-hitter.

On Saturday, the young midfielder showed his speed to make incredible catches of the ball, preventing a strike from Oakland.