Butler homers as A's get to Bumgarner

March 19th, 2016

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- A split squad of Oakland A's maintained the club's spring dominance of cross-bay rival San Francisco, scoring in each of Saturday's first three innings against Giants ace Madison Bumgarner to claim a 9-1 triumph.
Shrugging off the effects of Trevor Brown's second-inning comebacker off the back of his right knee, A's starter Felix Doubront yielded one run and five hits in four innings. With their second victory over the Giants in as many games this year, the A's improved to 15-4 in their last 19 Cactus League encounters against San Francisco.
"I didn't feel my leg from the knee down, so I stayed down, waiting for the pain," Doubront said. "It's sore, but nothing changed. I mixed my pitches really well and everything was working."

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Oakland immediately jumped on Bumgarner, who yielded five runs and seven hits in 2 2/3 innnings after missing his previous start with a strained rib cage and inflammation in his left foot.

Billy Burns opened the game by drawing a walk and scored on Jed Lowrie's ground-rule double. Jake Smolinski added an RBI double in the second inning before the A's made the score lopsided with a three-run third. Khris Davis singled home a run before scoring on Billy Butler's first homer of the spring.
Bumgarner tried to make the most of his rough afternoon by throwing about seven additional pitches in the bullpen, mainly to simulate working another inning.
"I was glad to get my pitch count up," said Bumgarner, who unofficially totaled 60 pitches in the game.

Ehire Adrianza's alert baserunning led to a third-inning run that helped the Giants avert a shutout. Adrianza tagged up and advanced from second base to third on Angel Pagan's flyout. That put Adrianza in position to score on Hunter Pence's infield single.

Oakland proceeded to pad its lead. Josh Phegley scorded on Smolinski's fifth-inning fly ball to center field, which Denard Span lost in the sun for a double. Yonder Alonso's seventh-inning sacrifice fly delivered Butler.
A's Up Next: A's top pitching prospectSean Manaea gets another start Sunday in a 1:05 p.m. PT matchup with the visiting White Sox at Hohokam Stadium. The left-handed Manaea, who is expected to be in the big leagues at some point this year, has greatly impressed in camp, posting a 1.35 ERA in his first three spring appearances, two of them starts.
Giants Up Next: The National League West rival Colorado Rockies will provide San Francisco's opposition in the regularly scheduled exhibition, which is slated to begin at 1:10 p.m. PT with Giants No. 12 prospectClayton Blackburn starting. But an equally significant event will occur back at the Giants' facility in Scottsdale, where Johnny Cueto will pitch for the first time since getting beaned by a Billy Burns line drive last Monday.