San Francisco Giants win the Battle of the Bay, sweep the A’s, move to one game out of 1st in the NL West

Jul 26, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Duffy (5) and catcher Buster Posey (28) high five team mates after defeating the Oakland Athletics 4-3 at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

It was a big weekend. I had places to go, people to see, things to do. And you know it had to be pretty important for me to miss baseball.

Between a baby shower, meeting Baby Bennett (absolutely adorable), Sunday brunch and family visits, the only game I saw was Friday night.

Saturday, I arrived home way too late to watch the Giants game, but I caught a snippet of the Mets clobbering the Dodgers. The final score was Mets 15, Dodgers 2. Ouch! That one had to leave a mark.

The Mets took the Dodgers down again on Sunday, and guess who locked down that win? Former Giant/Dodger/Brave Juan Uribe.

After scoring one run in the second and one in the fifth, the Mets led 2-0, until the Dodgers tied it up in the ninth. It was on to extra innings. In the bottom half of the 10th, the Mets lead off man got on board with a double, and scored when Uribe crushed the ball into center field for the walk-off win.

You know the saying: I two favorite teams, one is the Giants (of course) and the other is–whatever team is playing the Dodgers at that moment? So, I was a Mets fan for a New York minute. If Uribe is trying to repent for his defection to the dark side, he made a good start.

But enough about that. What’s relevant, really important, and really, really matters most to Giants fans: word on the street is the Giants won. But you already knew that. And I publicly admitted having doubts about our ability to take the A’s down. How silly was that?

Turns out–colossally so…we didn’t just win, we swept the A’s.

I heard that on Saturday, Madison Bumgarner, in typical Bumgarner fashion, threw the entire team over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and took them to the finish line. He roped the ball up the middle in the third inning for a solo home run. According to the box score, he pitched a solid seven innings, allowing one run on five hits and two walks. He struck out seven.

Joe Panik and Matt Duffy took the team across the finish line in the sixth with a two–one punch. Panik hit a double and scored on Duffy’s single. The final score was: Giants 2, A’s 1

It looks like Sunday’s game was a little more involved. Duffy lit up the place like the 4th of July in the first inning by launching a dinger into the left-center field bleachers that also scored Angel Pagan–who drew a walk to lead off the inning. Buster Posey followed with a base hit, and Brandon Belt drove Buster home with a single.

The Pagan/Duffy duo combined base hits in the second inning to score another run and scare off the A’s starter who went an inning and 1/3 before the A’s decided they’d had enough. Sounds like the rest of the day came down to a pitching duel.

The Giants won the duel. Buster gave the bullpen credit for getting the job done, according to Chris Haft and Trevor Hass writing for MLB.com, Buster said of the relievers: “Guys have done a nice job of pitching in different situations—getting an out or two there, maybe going an inning or more.” Stay classy Buster.

Tim Hudson pitched, and his box scored showed he went five innings. He gave up three runs on seven hits. But he went long enough to get credit for the win, giving him the distinction of a win against every single team in the MLB. The final score was: Giants 4, A’s 3

The Giants have won six consecutive at home, and 11 of their last 12. If they keep this up, the road to October will definitely be paved Orange and Black. You hear that Dodgers? You hear that noise behind you? That’s the Giants. Better start packing, Dodgers. We’re coming for you.

On a personal note, there’s a life lesson to be learned here. Did I have fun getting out and about, seeing friends and family instead of being glued to the TV set watching baseball–pre-game, post-game, analysis, pretty much all things baseball? Sure, of course. Did I enjoy eating grown up food instead of hot dogs and peanuts and socializing with people who weren’t talking baseball? Absolutely loved it. Would I do it again? Never. Not in a million years–not during baseball season. That’s what winter is for.