Manaea strong on mound, at plate in A’s loss to Giants originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Sean Manaea dazzled on the mound and in the batter’s box in front of 36,928 fans at Oracle Park on Friday night.
Over six innings, the Athletics’ starter allowed one earned run and walked three while striking out seven in Oakland’s 2-0 loss to the Giants in the first game of the Bay Bridge Series.
Manaea also went 2-for-2 at the plate, joining Jed Lowrie as the only A’s players with multiple hits on the night. The rest of the A’s bats stayed relatively quiet.
“Overall, it was good,” Manaea said on his start, adding that he struggled to limit the walks.
When it came to swinging the stick, Manaea was proud of what he accomplished.
“I love hitting, even though I’m really bad,” Manaea said. “But it’s a lot of fun.”
Manaea also had the support of the A’s dugout, specifically the starting pitchers, who cheered for him as he rounded first base, lost his helmet and made it safely to second base for a double in the third inning. It was the A’s first hit of the game.
“Both pretty well,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said on Manaea’s performance both hitting and pitching. “He did good at the plate and really well on the mound.”
The atmosphere was epic and there were plenty of A’s fans in San Francisco, but it wasn’t enough to take home the win. It was the first time Oracle Park had a full capacity crowd since 2019 before the COVID-19 shutdown.
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Still, Manaea says he is proud of how consistent he has been this season.
“It’s a goal that I set for myself at the beginning of the year,” Manaea said. “Definitely put in a lot of work so it’s good to see positive results, it’s great.”
The A’s look to bounce back in the second game of the Bay Bridge Series on Saturday night.