Oakland Athletics at San Francisco Giants 3/12/23
The Oakland Athletics will be in Scottsdale, AZ Sunday for a West Coast matchup against the San Francisco Giants. Oakland comes into Sunday two games below .500 this spring riding a 3 game win streak after a 12-11 win against the Texas Rangers. Paul Blackburn got the start for Oakland giving up two runs on four hits across 3.1 innings of work resulting in a no decision. The Oakland bullpen was shaky for the remainder of the game giving up nine more runs on 11 more hits before Chase Cohen came on to record one out to secure the victory.
Offensively Oakland was dominant compiling 11 hits including seven with runners in scoring position to score twelve runs in the game. Kevin Smith led the way for the Oakland offense with two hits and three at bats to drive in five total runs. Trenton Brooks recorded one hit to drive in three runs, while five other Oakland players drove in one run each.
The San Francisco Giants limp into Sunday six games below .500 this spring after losing four of the last five following an 8-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies. Alex Wood got the start and took the loss for San Francisco after giving up four runs on three hits across only 2.2 innings of work. The San Francisco bullpen was mediocre, but Jakob Junis gave up four runs on three hits across 2.1 innings of work to seal the San Francisco loss.
Casey Schmitt and Stephen Piscotty lead the way for the San Francisco offense this season posting a .389 batting average, while Piscotty also leads San Francisco with five RBI's and seven hits this spring. Michael Conforto has supplied the San Francisco power with three home runs in 16 at bats.
The Oakland Athletics are the better team in this matchup playing the better baseball this spring and will continue to roll on Sunday. Take Oakland to do enough Sunday to overpower a bad San Francisco team and get the win. Look for Oakland to control this game for the full nine innings as they coast to another victory. Final Score Prediction, Oakland Athletics win 5-1.
