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Athletics 2, Giants 0

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Barry Bonds walked to the plate as the potential tying run with one out in the ninth inning Sunday, the crowd urging him on to deliver one of his famous big hits.

Just like the rest of the Giants, Bonds failed to come through. He flied out just in front of the warning track in left field, helping send San Francisco to its second straight shutout loss to the Oakland Athletics.

Lenny DiNardo and two relievers combined on a five-hitter, and the Athletics used a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning by Marco Scutaro to complete a three-game sweep of their Bay Area rivals with a 2-0 victory.

Oakland's first three-game sweep ever in San Francisco wasn't sealed until Alan Embree got through a difficult ninth, including the at-bat against Bonds.

"I was thinking we were either going to walk away with a win and a save right here or we'd be playing extra frames," Embree said. "I was thinking about challenging him but not leaving it over the plate. I made some tough pitches to him. He fouled them off. I left the one just enough away. Had he pulled it a little bit, it would have been out."

Instead, Scutaro caught it for the second out. A backhand stop in the hole by shortstop Bobby Crosby then robbed Bengie Molina of a hit to finish Embree's seventh save.

The Giants were swept at home in consecutive series for the first time since their waterfront ballpark opened in 2000 and were blanked in back-to-back games for the first time since June 22-23, 1996, against Atlanta.

"We got the right guy up there in the ninth and he just missed it," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "We'll get production throughout the lineup. We can't just wait for Barry."

Bonds went 0-for-3 with a walk and has not homered in 32 at-bats since connecting for No. 746 on May 27 against Colorado. Bonds, who has only one homer since May 8, remains nine shy of tying Hank Aaron's career record of 755.

The A's have won 10 of 13, riding strong performances by their starting pitchers, including fill-in DiNardo. The lefty has been stellar in his three starts, allowing one earned run in 17 1/3 innings after throwing six scoreless against the Giants.

That followed Dan Haren's seven scoreless innings Saturday and marked the 13th straight game an Oakland starter has allowed two earned runs or less -- the longest stretch for the team since April 1978.

"I think we feed off each other," DiNardo said. "You go out and see a great outing like the previous games before me and it's something you can build on. You watch good pitching and it helps you to see what they do to get guys out."

DiNardo is just one of the many A's players pushed into new roles by injuries who came through against the Giants.

Santiago Casilla (2-0), called up from the minors a week ago when Jay Witasick was let go, retired all six batters he faced, Embree earned another save with closer Huston Street on the disabled list and super sub Scutaro broke up a scoreless game with his homer off Matt Cain (2-6).

"That's kind of been the story of our team," manager Bob Geren said. "We've had a lot of injuries obviously. Guys have had a shot to fill in. A lot of pitchers and position players have taken advantage of the opportunities. That's what it takes to win."

Scutaro at second base started because Geren wanted to give Mark Ellis a rest for his sore knee. The move paid off when Scutaro fought back after falling behind 0-2 against Cain and connected for his third homer of the season to make it 1-0.

"It was a pitch we wanted and he beat us on it," Cain said. "He caught it out front. He did his job."

Oakland added a run in the ninth on Shannon Stewart's RBI single against Brad Hennessey.

Each team squandered an early chance with the bases loaded . The Giants loaded the bases with one out in the second inning, but DiNardo recovered to strike out Omar Vizquel and Cain to escape the threat.

DiNardo allowed four hits and two walks in six innings, striking out five. He walked Bonds once and retired him on two noteworthy plays.

Travis Buck misjudged his fly ball into a tricky wind in the fourth inning, taking a step back before racing in for a diving catch. Buck bruised his right thumb on the play is day-to-day.

Bonds hit a grounder in the sixth that went through first baseman Dan Johnson's legs, but Scutaro was in position to back up the play because of the shift and threw Bonds out at first.

"I tired to pitch around him a little bit and let him get himself out late in the at-bat," DiNardo said.

Oakland had the bases loaded with two outs in the fourth when Mark Kotsay flied out to Bonds in left field. Cain allowed one run and five hits in eight innings and has just one win in his last eight starts.

Game notes

Bonds made a nice play in the field when he crashed into the wall on Jason Kendall's drive to left field to open the seventh. ... DiNardo got a single in the fifth when his pop fly landed between Bonds and Vizquel in shallow LF. It was the first for an A's pitcher since Haren had one June 10, 2005, at Atlanta, ending an 28 at-bat hitless streak. ... Oakland's only other three-game sweep against the Giants came at home, June 24-26, 2005.