SAN FRANCISCO — Giants starter Madison Bumgarner threw two pitches out of the stretch. Closer Will Smith threw 36.
Perhaps those numbers are just indicative of the opposing pitchers’ season trajectories — Bumgarner is just getting sharper, and Smith is coming back down to Earth.
Or maybe it’s the perfect representation of the A’s sometimes frustrating and often times thrilling offensive pattern against good pitching; spotty at bats the first few times through the order that get competitive enough to mount comebacks in the late innings — their eight walk-offs are second most in the majors, after all.