SFGATE: Giants prevent A's from clinching AL West

Giants prevent A's from clinching AL West"
Published on September 21, 2020 at 05:44AM by By JANIE McCAULEY, AP Baseball Writer

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Brandon Crawford hit a grand slam, Chadwick Tromp and Darin Ruf added two-run homers, and the San Francisco Giants prevented the Oakland Athletics from clinching the AL West title at home with a 14-2 victory Sunday.

The Giants earned their first win in six tries during this year's Bay Bridge Series and go into the season's final week chasing a playoff spot.

“Look, we seem to be a team that responds pretty well,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “Of course we wanted to clinch today; we wanted to do it at home. We were on a roll the last couple games. It just didn’t happen.”

Oakland, already into the playoffs for a third straight season, needed a win or a loss by the rival Astros to secure its first division crown since 2013. Houston won at home against the Diamondbacks.

Jake Lamb hit a two-run single in the sixth for Oakland’s lone scoring on an uncharacteristically quiet day.

“It didn’t happen,” A's starter Mike Minor said. “Guys are still positive.”

Tyler Anderson (3-3) — ejected in the third inning Thursday against the Mariners — struck out four over 5 2/3 innings pitching Sunday on short rest so Johnny Cueto could get an extra day.

This time, Anderson kept calm.

“It was just one game where I was probably running a little hot," he said.

Tromp connected in the third for the Giants’ first runs of the series, then Ruf the next inning against Minor (1-6), who was coming off a victory in his first start with Oakland. Tromp, a rookie, also had an RBI single during his three-hit day as San Francisco produced 15 hits to five by the A's.

“We’re going home with our spirits high. We have 100% confidence we’re going to make this happen," Tromp said. “We can all taste it.”

Ruf added a two-run single in the eighth as...