Giants' Poor Defense Lets Athletics Back in Series
The Giants wasted a decent outing by their ace Johnny Antonelli by making two costly errors which led to 3 unearned runs in a 6-3 defeat in Game 3 at the Polo Grounds. Oakland made the most of their extra outs and took advantage of the dimensions of the Giants' home park to get themselves back into the series. For the Giants, it was the second consecutive game that their defense was subpar, but this time they could not overcome their mistakes.
A's starter Ken Holtzman was cruising along until the fourth inning when he issued a lead off walk to Don Mueller. He would reach second on a Willie Mays single. After Holtzman struck out Monte Irvin, Mueller came around to score on a Hank Thompson 2 out RBI single.
Oakland went to work in the sixth and took the lead for good. Antonelli struck out Billy North to begin the inning but Bert Campaneris took one of Antonelli's fastballs on the outer half over the wall down the right field line. Sal Bando singled, and Reggie Jackson would reach on the first miscue by the Giants as Davey Williams would throw the ball into left field trying to turn the double play. Joe Rudi then singled to load the bases and Bando would come in to count on a Gene Tenace grounder. Giants' first baseman Whitey Lockman tried to turn the double play on Tenace's ball, but the return throw was late which gave the A's a 2-1 lead.
Antonelli had a bit of bad luck in the seventh. The lead off hitter for the A's, Dick Green, hit a ball which deflected off Antonelli's glove for an infield hit. Green then stole second, and pitcher Ken Holtzman laid down a sacrifice bunt to push Green to third. North drove him home with a single. Giants' third baseman Hank Thompson was in the giving mood once again as his wild throw allowed Campaneris to reach putting runners on first and second. Thompson threw wide of Davey Williams as he attempted to initiate a double play. It was the Giants' second botched double play of the game and this one would also cost them. Antonelli got Bando to pop out to Lockman, but Reggie Jackson laced a triple into right field to clear the bases giving Oakland a commanding 5-1 advantage.
The Giants tried to answer in the bottom of the seventh, but this time, poor baserunning let them down. Willie Mays started things off with a triple but was picked off third base for the first out of the inning. This hurt even more as both Lockman and Williams would follow with a singles. With runners on first and third now, Wes Westrum lined a singled down the left field line but was caught in a rundown between first and second and tagged out. Lockman scored from third, and a sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Billy Gardner later plated Williams. The score now stood at 5-3, but the Giants were left wondering what could have been as Don Mueller also singled before Al Dark flew out to Jackson in right to end the inning.
Jim Hearn came on for Antonelli in the eighth. Ray Fosse found the left center field gap for a triple which scored Tenace who singled earlier to round out the scoring. Both Holztman and Antonelli went 7 innings giving up 9 hits each, but Antonelli only had 2 earned runs on his ledger compared to the three Holtzman allowed. A very regrettable effort by the Giants, and a game they hope won't haunt them as the series moves forward.
*ICYMI > http://buzzingthetowersawx.blogspot.ca/2014/07/world-series-game-2-54-giants-vs-74.html
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