SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - With one swing and a pair of defensive gems, Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford is more than ready for the regular season to begin.
Same thing goes for pitcher Jeff Samardzija, who had his second straight strong outing after a rough start to the spring.
Eduardo Nunez drove in Brandon Belt on a fielder’s choice grounder with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning and the Giants beat the Oakland Athletics 2-1 on Friday night.
“It’s our style, pitching and defense,” San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. “They go hand in hand.”
Crawford’s second home run of the spring gave the Giants an early lead and came after the two-time Gold Glove shortstop robbed Khris Davis of an infield hit in the top of the second. Davis, back in the A’s lineup after sitting out nearly a week with a quad injury, hit a grounder to deep short. Crawford ranged to his far right to get to the ball then made a strong throw to first for the out.
Crawford made another sparkling defensive play in the ninth when he ran behind second base to field Ryan Lavarnway’s grounder then threw to first to end the game.
“I think it kind of skimmed off the tape of second base at the end, so that kind of added to the difficulty a little bit,” Crawford said. “If we can play solid defense and just put some offense together we have a good chance at winning a lot of games.”
Belt singled off Ryan Dull (2-1) leading off the ninth. Hunter Pence doubled off the right-field wall to move Belt to third before Crawford was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Nunez followed with sharp grounder to shortstop Richie Martin, who threw to second base for one out but the relay to first was late.
San Francisco right fielder Hunter Pence added his own defensive gem in the fourth when he made a tumbling catch on Matt Joyce’s sinking liner.
“It’s huge, a big reason why I signed over here,” Samardzija said. “This organization puts on a lot onus on defense, and as a pitcher you love it.”
Samardzija allowed one hit over five innings, the second straight strong start for the Giants right-hander, while Denard Span added two hits. Samardzija struck out six and walked one.
Jharel Cotton started for Oakland and gave up five hits over four innings, walked one and struck out two. The A’s have lost five straight.
“A little bit up in the zone early in the game, but he made the adjustment and got the ball down,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin said “Timing-wise, it’s good confidence-wise rolling in to the season.”
CASILLA’S RETURN
A’s reliever Santiago Casilla received mixed greetings when he entered to pitch the fifth. The former Giants closer, who signed with Oakland this offseason, struck out two of the four batters he faced and allowed one hit.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Athletics: Davis was hitless in three at-bats in his return to the lineup for the first time since suffering a quad injury March 22. Oakland’s cleanup hitter jogged slowly to first base on the grounder to Crawford in the second, but showed no lingering effects from the injury.
Giants: Veteran infielder Jimmy Rollins was released so that he can pursue opportunities with other teams. The 38-year-old Rollins hit .119 this spring. … After the game, the Giants optioned pitchers Josh Osich, Andrew Suarez and infielder Kelby Tomlinson to Triple-A Sacramento. … Bochy announced before the game that Matt Cain would be the fifth starter in San Francisco’s rotation. … Derek Law pitched one inning for the win.
ECK REJOINS A’S
Dennis Eckersley has rejoined the A’s as a special assistant to team president Dave Kaval, the ballclub announced. The 1992 AL Cy Young Award winner - who holds the franchise record with 320 career saves - will join another former A’s star, Rickey Henderson, in serving as an ambassador for the team in the community.
UP NEXT
The two teams conclude the three-game Bay Bridge Series in Oakland on Saturday. Tyler Beede will start for the Giants, while right-hander Andrew Triggs goes for the A’s.
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