McLemore Sparks A’s Past Giants

When the Oakland Athletics arrived at the ballpark, they didn’t know if Mark McLemore or Justin Duchscherer would be able to play, much less produce.

After proving their fitness in pregame drills, McLemore and Duchscherer delivered in Oakland’s 6-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday.

McLemore’s tiebreaking single sparked a four-run ninth inning and Duchscherer pitched two scoreless innings of relief.

Jermaine Dye had four hits and two runs batted in, Damian Miller hit a tying double in the eighth inning and the A’s ended Barry Bonds’ four-game home run streak and beat their cross-bay rivals for the second time in five meetings.

“You can’t just count on one guy because if you do that teams will pitch around him,” McLemore said.

That’s what the A’s did to Bonds, who finished one for two with two walks, giving him 2,189 walks in his career -- one shy of Rickey Henderson’s career record. Bonds’ hit came with a four-run deficit leading off the ninth inning.

The big ninth inning made sure Bonds’ last at-bat wouldn’t matter. Pinch-hitter Eric Karros started the rally with a one-out double. Pinch-runner Esteban German scored on McLemore’s line single to center that got just past a lunging shortstop Deivi Cruz.

McLemore, who has been bothered by a balky right knee, wasn’t sure he’d be able to play until he did some running before the game.

“I have pain. If I can deal with it during the game, I’ll play,” he said. “It’s at the point where I won’t go out there and be 100% the rest of the year. I’ll deal with it when I can. If I can’t, I won’t play.”

Scott Hatteberg hit a high fly to shallow center that second baseman Ray Durham lost in the sun. The ball hit off his glove for his second error of the game, allowing a run to score.

“I didn’t see it,” Durham said. “I ran over and looked at Deivi and was hoping that [center fielder Marquis] Grissom would call me off. I didn’t hear anything. I threw the glove up and it hit it.”

Dye had a run-scoring double and Bobby Crosby had a run-scoring single.

“I think it’s pathetic,” reliever Matt Herges said. “I can’t make a pitch to get out of the inning. I can’t explain it, but it’s brutal. It just can’t happen.”

Oakland starter Rich Harden, who left his start June 26 against the Giants in the third inning because of a partially dislocated non-throwing shoulder, gave up two hits in six innings.

Duchscherer (4-1), who hadn’t pitched since June 26 because of a sore back, gave up one hit and Octavio Dotel pitched a scoreless ninth.

“I hadn’t pitched in a week and I didn’t even pick up a ball for three days,” Duchscherer said. “It felt good to go out there and pitch. I felt good today. This gives me something positive to think about when I come back tomorrow.”