the Japanese media would ask me questions after every round,

SAN FRANCISCO -- Oakland manager Bob Melvin leaned back in his clubhouse chair and exhaled -- on the winning side of the Bay Bridge Series rivalry 3 hours, 43 minutes of intense baseball later. Tommy Milone won his second straight decision following a five-start skid, pinch-hitter Nate Freiman had a two-run single, and the Athletics beat the San Francisco Giants 9-6 on Wednesday night in a back-and-forth duel for their sixth straight win. "It was exhausting," Melvin said. "They were competing, boy. You get momentum going in the other direction here sometimes and its hard to stem the tide." Yoenis Cespedes hit an RBI triple in the first to extend his career-best hitting streak to 11 games, and Jed Lowrie added an RBI double as the As (31-23) moved a season-best eight games above .500 for the first time since they were 12-4 on April 17. They won for the 11th time in 12 games. "Thats probably the most fun Ive had in a long time outside of the playoffs. People are competing," said As third baseman Josh Donaldson, who had two hits and a couple of defensive gems. "Good, clean fun. It was awesome." Milone (5-5) outpitched Tim Lincecum and got plenty of support, too. He received three or fewer runs of support in each of his previous seven outings. Hunter Pence homered for the second straight game and Brett Pill also connected for San Francisco. The sloppy reigning World Series champion Giants are having their problems -- starting pitching, defence, at the plate, you name it. "I dont know what happened," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "We just didnt play well. Theres no sugarcoating this thing. We pretty much covered all facets of the game tonight as far as not playing well." San Francisco has only two quality starts in the last 15 games and none on the road this month. The Giants are in a stretch with 14 of 18 away from AT&T Park. "This is a tough stretch," Bochy said. "Weve got to get our act together." Lincecum (3-5) lost his third straight start and fourth in five. The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner allowed six runs on seven hits in 4 1-3 innings with four strikeouts and four walks. He dropped to 5-3 in 10 career starts against the As. Pence hit a solo shot in the second to highlight his three-hit night, then Pill hit his first longball of the year leading off the sixth. After Cespedes first-inning triple, Oakland added another run when Cespedes scored on second baseman Marco Scutaros error. Scutaro misplayed a popup in shallow right field in which he bumped into Pence, giving San Franciscos second baseman nine errors this year -- tied for most in the majors with Washingtons Ryan Zimmerman. Milone struck out three and walked three in five innings, allowing four runs and eight hits in his first career outing and start against the Giants. Freiman delivered his first career hit as a pinch-hitter with the fifth-inning single. As bench coach Chip Hale was ejected in the bottom of the sixth, when the Giants added three runs. One of those came on Andres Torres double that went over third base, which brought As manager Bob Melvin out twice to argue. A fan interfered with the ball as it bounced near San Franciscos bullpen and was ejected, but baserunner Gregor Blanco was still allowed to score from first base. "I argued everything that I could have argued," Melvin said. "He just said that in his judgment he would have scored (without the interference)." Crew chief and third base umpire Gerry Davis told a pool reporter in that case theres a judgment call and "you award the runners the bases you feel they would have had had there not been interference." As centre fielder Coco Crisp ran down a deep fly by Brandon Crawford to end the seventh, robbing him of an extra-base hit that would have driven in a run. Crisp hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth for insurance. San Francisco lost its third in a row to the As, dropping the Bay Bridge Series for the first time since going 2-4 in 2008. The clubs split their six games in 2010-11, then the Giants went 4-2 last season. "Every time we come here the atmosphere is always awesome," Milone said. Scutaro hit a two-out RBI double in the eighth and Pablo Sandoval followed with a run-scoring single to make it 7-6, snapping an 0-for-15 stretch. Sean Doolittle surrendered a run for the first time in 14 appearances. The As got one back in the ninth on the Giants third error. Grant Balfour pitched the bottom half for his 12th save in as many chances and 30th straight dating to last year. Giants centre fielder and leadoff hitter Angel Pagan received a cortisone shot in his injured left hamstring to alleviate the bursitis that has sidelined him since Sunday. Bochy doesnt expect him to need a stint on the disabled list. "Hes probably down at least a couple more days," Bochy said. "Right now we think he should be ready in St. Louis." Notes: As RF Josh Reddick, on the DL since May 8 with a sprained right wrist, went 1 for 4 with two runs, a walk and a steal -- and a diving catch -- and is scheduled to DH for the River Cats on Thursday with the hope he will be activated by the As ahead of Friday nights series opener at home against the White Sox. ... Milone is 5-2 with a 3.22 ERA in night games. ... Lincecum went 0-1 with a 6.30 ERA in two starts against the As last year. ... RHP A.J. Griffin (5-3) pitches for the As in the series finale Thursday afternoon against LHP Barry Zito (3-3). ... RHP Ramon Ramirez made his Giants season debut with two innings of relief after being promoted from Triple-A Fresno. Under Armour Outlet Store .ca. Hey Kerry, big fan of yours, just finished reading your book. I think that we all saw the Canucks/Flames line brawl just after puck drop. 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Following a lopsided 5-2 loss against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, Paul MacLean told reporters that "theres a lack of focus, theres a lack of leadership and theres a lack of preparation" with his struggling team. That came on the heels of Bryan Murray taking the unusual step of going into the locker room at the Prudential Center and addressing the players himself. NASSAU, Bahamas -- Comparisons to legends are rarely fair, and comparisons to a legend that dominated this weeks news cycle and handed over the trophy as tournament host are even less so.And yet, there was Hideki Matsuyama, just minutes removed from winning the Hero World Challenge for his fourth worldwide title in his past five starts, trying to deflect any comparison to the winning ways Tiger Woods once brought to the game.Im not even close to being mentioned in the same sentence as Tiger, he acknowledged through an interpreter, but I am working hard and hopefully, little by little, Ill get better and better.Lets not lose the plot here: Matsuyama isnt the next Woods, wont be the next Woods and shouldnt be held to the standard of serving as the next Woods. That goes not only for him, but each of the games elite 20-something players -- from Rory McIlroy to Jordan Spieth to Jason Day.Its noteworthy, though, that Matsuyama has joined those players and others on the list of guys who can at least put on a pretty strong Tiger impersonation on any given week.He entered Sundays round leading by a whopping 7 strokes, and while many observers will only recall Woods dominance during his prime years, there were plenty of occasions when he simply played final-round defense, parlaying a wide 54-hole margin into a victory that looked relatively close on the final leaderboard, but not on the course.Matsuyama isnt that type of finisher -- nobody is -- which might explain his final-round, 1-over 73 that relied on a brilliant chip shot from behind the 18th green to save par in order to secure the 2-stroke triumph over Henrik Stenson.Already a three-time PGA Tour champion at age 24, including last months WGC-HSBC Champions tournament -- Matsuyama is learning to win right before our eyes.It undoubtedly has something to do with an increased comfort level while playing on the U.S.-based circuit. Ever since a 27th-place finish as an amateur at the Masters Tournament five years ago, Matsuyama has often been followed by a large media contingent from his native Japan. Even without a language barrier, hes preternaturally shy, previously unaccustomed to being the centeer of attention.ddddddddddddAs one Japanese reporter said during his Memorial Tournament victory two years ago, He doesnt speak much English, but he doesnt speak much Japanese, either.There has been a learning curve in living in that spotlight.When I first turned pro and came to the PGA Tour, the Japanese media would ask me questions after every round, whether I played good or bad, he said. At first, it was difficult for me and I felt a lot of pressure, but then I learned that talking with the media is just part of my job as a professional golfer. Once I realized that, it became easier and I didnt feel that pressure.His responses to questions about himself and the state of his game are much like those of any other elite-level golfer these days. He doesnt allow much, but says all the right things.On perhaps already being the greatest golfer from Japan: Theres been some great golfers in Japan. Just to name a few, Jumbo Ozaki, Isao Aoki, Shigeki Maruyama, Tsuneyuki Nakajima. And to be able to follow in their footsteps is a great honor. And then to come to the PGA Tour and learn from really the best golfers in the world, its really helped my game. Im grateful for all of their help. But to answer your question, Im not the greatest golfer from Japan.On whether he expected to win so many events in such a short time: Im very surprised at these last five events and I just hope I can keep it going.On trying to win his first major championship: Starting next week, all my focus and preparation will be for the Masters. Hopefully, along the way I can play well on the PGA Tour, but the Masters is my next goal.Matsuyama told a little story after his Sunday win, too. The first time he ever watched Woods was that 1997 Masters victory. He was 5 years old then, and he videotaped the broadcast so he could watch it over and over.Hes certainly not the next Tiger Woods. Nobody is. But the way Matsuyama has been winning -- and the way he won this tournament on Sunday -- certainly served as a reminder of the guy who handed him the trophy. ' ' '