Oakland 6, San Diego 5
When: 3:40 PM ET, Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Where: Petco Park, San Diego, California
Temperature:
67°
Umpires:
Home -
Tripp Gibson, 1B -
Brian Gorman, 2B -
Adam Hamari, 3B -
Mike DiMuro
Attendance:
28482
By The Sports Xchange
SAN DIEGO -- In 2007, Eric Sogard played second base at Arizona State when Pat Murphy coached the Sun Devils.
Eight years later, Sogard bounced a run-scoring single through the middle of the San Diego Padres infield with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to give the Oakland A's a 6-5 victory over the Padres on Tuesday at Petco Park, handing Murphy his first loss as the Padres manager.
"I should have messed him up in college a little more," said Murphy, who was named the Padres manager earlier in the day.
Murphy took over the Padres a day after Bud Black was fired after eight-plus seasons as the Padres manager.
"I'm excited for Murph and his opportunity," said Sogard. "It's kind of neat for me to hand him his first loss. He helped me tremendously to get where I am today."
Murphy is not Sogard's only connection to the Padres.
He was the Padres' second-round pick in the 2007 draft, but was traded to the A's with third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff before the 2010 season for outfielders Scott Hairston and Aaron Cunningham.
"It felt good to come in here and contribute," said Sogard.
With two outs in the ninth inning of a tie game, Padres right-handed closer Craig Kimbrel (1-2) walked A's lead-off hitter Billy Burns, who stole second. Sogard rolled a single past Padres shortstop Clint Barmes, allowing Burns to score from second.
"It was a hitter's count," said Sogard. "So I was hoping to get a heater so I could shoot it up the middle. I didn't hit it as hard as I would like."
A's right-handed reliever Evan Scribner (2-1) got the win. Right-hander Tyler Clippard struck out the side in the ninth to pick up his 10th save.
The win gave the A's a sweep of the two-game interleague series, and the same clubs will play in Oakland the next two days. The A's have won three straight. The Padres have lost three straight -- under three different managers: Black on Sunday, bench coach Dave Roberts on Monday and Murphy Tuesday.
"It hurts," Murphy said of his first game as a major league manager. "I don't take losing very well."
Murphy was managing the Padres Triple-A affiliate at El Paso when he was summoned to San Diego Monday morning shortly after general manager A.J. Preller relieved Black. He was driving from El Paso to Albuquerque when he got the call and caught a flight to San Diego.
"The last 24 hours are not as complicated as you think," said Murphy. "If I had come in as a hitting coach, that'd be huge."
The Padres had tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the eighth against the A's bullpen, the tying blow being a two-out homer to left by right fielder Matt Kemp. The 386-foot drive off Scribner was only Kemp's third as a Padre and his first of the season at Petco Park.
Earlier in the eighth, center fielder Melvin Upton Jr. and first baseman Yonder Alonso opened the inning with back-to-back singles. Scribner then replaced left-hander Drew Pomeranz on the mound for the A's and got left fielder Justin Upton to ground into a double play while his brother was scoring from third.
Center fielder Billy Burns robbed the Padres of two runs in the first, then put Oakland up 3-2 with a two-run triple to cap the A's three-run fifth inning against struggling Padres' right-handed starter Andrew Cashner.
With one out in the first and Alonso on with a single, Justin Upton hit a line drive to center. Burns raced to the wall, made a leaping catch above the fence and doubled Alonso off first to end the inning.
Padres rookie catcher Austin Hedges ended the scoreless tie with his first major league homer with one out in the third. He ended a 0-for-16 streak that lowered his batting average to .080 with a line drive to left off A's left-handed starter Scott Kazmir.
The Padres made it 2-0 in the fourth but wasted an opportunity to break the game open.
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