HEADLINE

30 years after quake, A’s, Giants look to shake up standings

Field Level Media

August 13, 2019 at 1:54 am.

Geographic neighbors seeking to help their own playoff chances while hurting those of the rival go head-to-head Tuesday night when the Oakland Athletics and host San Francisco Giants meet, 30 years after their infamous Earthquake Series.

The A’s won the temblor-interrupted 1989 World Series in a sweep, and they have dominated recent meetings with the Giants, winning nine of 14 over the past three seasons.

Both enter the first of four 2019 regular-season meetings out of playoff position but still with a chance to rally.

Left-handers Brett Anderson (10-7, 3.99 ERA) of the A’s and Madison Bumgarner (7-7, 3.74) of the Giants are scheduled to square off in the opener of the two-game set.

The teams will also clash twice in Oakland later this month.

Anderson will be pitching for the first time since collecting two hits on Aug. 6 in a game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. He set an A’s franchise record in the designated hitter era for hits in a season by a pitcher, as he now has four in six at-bats.

“We’ll probably look for a position for Brett Anderson to play tomorrow,” manager Bob Melvin joked to reporters after Oakland’s 11-4 win. “He’s hitting, what, like .700?”

In Bumgarner, Anderson not only will have to hit against a standout pitcher, but he also will have to deal with one of baseball’s best hitting pitchers at the plate.

Bumgarner collected hits in each of his past two starts. For his career, he has 18 home runs.

More important, Anderson and Bumgarner bring hot streaks to the mound.

Anderson, who will be making his third straight interleague appearance, is unbeaten in his past seven road starts, going 4-0 with a 2.66 ERA. He’s just 2-4 with a 4.78 in 10 career starts against the Giants, however, including 1-4 with a 5.13 ERA in seven starts at Oracle Park.

Anderson had a hit, his only one in 2018, but didn’t stick around long on the mound when he started a 4-3 road win over the Giants on July 14, 2018. He was bounced after 3 1/3 innings, having allowed eight hits and three runs.

Bumgarner, on the other hand, hasn’t lost to the A’s since 2014, going 3-0 in his past four head-to-head matchups. He is 4-2 with a 4.81 ERA in seven career starts against Oakland.

The four-time All-Star hasn’t been beaten in his past nine starts overall, going 4-0 with a 2.78 ERA.

He is coming off a fan-pleasing, 5-0 home win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday in which the Oracle Park crowd welcomed him back after not having been dealt at the trade deadline. Bumgarner yielded just one hit in seven shutout innings.

“This is an extremely special place to me,” he said postgame. “I appreciate everything that these fans have done for me. It’s an awesome place to play.”

The A’s have alternated losses and wins over the first six games of an eight-game trip. Meanwhile, the Giants won three of four against the Phillies to improve to 3-4 on their nine-game homestand.