SAN FRANCISCO – The Giants didn’t add a bat to their lineup at the 2024 MLB trade deadline as many had hoped, and San Francisco’s lack of offensive pop was on full display in a 5-2 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday.
Four A’s pitchers combined to limit the Giants to only five hits – three singles and two doubles. Beyond that, San Francisco repeatedly flailed at the plate, striking out 12 times.
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San Francisco scored in the eighth on a groundout by No. 9 hitter Derek Hill. Later in the inning, the Giants got a runner to second with two outs, but Tyler Fitzgerald struck out swinging.
They added another run in the ninth on Patrick Bailey’s two-out single before pinch-hitter LaMonte Wade Jr. struck out swinging to end it.
General manager Farhan Zaidi said before the game that he believes the Giants have the best rotation in baseball. But all the pitching in the world won’t matter much if a team can’t back it up good offense.
It didn’t help that starting pitcher Robbie Ray was unable to make it through five innings in his Oracle Park debut.
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Ray’s solid season debut last week gave fans hope for the second half of the season. After what went down Tuesday, the conversation almost assuredly will be headed in the opposite direction.
The left-hander was tagged for seven hits – three of them home runs – and allowed four runs with four strikeouts and three walks. The walks were indicative of Ray’s control problems. He threw about two-thirds of his pitches for strikes and was in and out of the zone most of the evening.
The already rough night took a turn for the worse when Heliot Ramos was tossed out of the game by home plate umpire Chris Segal after taking a high pitch for a called third strike in the seventh.
Ramos had fouled off four consecutive 3-2 pitches before A’s starter JP Sears threw an 83-mph changeup up and inside. Believing the pitch was a ball, Ramos flipped the bat over his shoulder and was on the verge of trotting to first base when he got ejected.
Manager Bob Melvin came out to argue the call but got nowhere. It was the first ejection of Ramos’ career.
Here are the takeaways from Tuesday’s game:
A's Take Ray Deep Again And Again And Again
Ray (1-1) had done a fairly good job of keeping the ball in the yard during his rehab starts in the minors, and then in his first start of the season last Wednesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The A’s changed all of that with their power-packing bats Tuesday.
Daz Cameron, Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker all took Ray deep in the A’s victory. Cameron and Butler hit solo shots while Rooker launched a two-run drive in the fifth to chase Ray from the game.
It was the 13th time in his career that Ray has been tagged for three or more home runs in a single game. Ironically, the last time it happened also was against the A’s in Ray’s final start of the 2022 MLB season.
Erasing The Runners
The Giants have had their issues dealing with runners on base this season, but they were very sharp facing those situations against the A’s.
Catcher Patrick Bailey threw out Oakland’s Miguel Andujar trying to steal second base in the first inning with a perfect strike to second baseman Casey Schmitt, who made a nice play on the tag. It was only the 16th runner in 67 chances that Bailey has gunned down on the basepaths.
In the second frame, San Francisco’s defense came up big again. Zack Gelof hit a one-out single then broke for second base. Ray was on top of the play and made a pick-off throw to first baseman David Villar, who pivoted and made the toss over to shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald to complete the 1-3-6 out.
Top Of The Order Blues
The Giants didn’t have much offense at all, and what little they did get didn’t amount to much.
The top of Melvin’s revamped lineup was a definite issue.
Fitzgerald, San Francisco’s newest leadoff hitter now that Jorge Soler has been traded, grounded out twice and struck out twice. That ended Fitzgerald’s 12-game hitting streak. Schmitt moved up the No. 2 hole and struck out twice in three at-bats before Brett Wisely pinch-hit for him in the ninth and flew out. Ramos, who singled in his first at-bat then was thrown out trying to steal second base, grounded out and struck out in his final two plate appearances.
More often than not, good offense comes as a result of the top of the order setting the table for the big bats. That didn’t happen against the A’s, and until it does against whomever the opponent is, the Giants won’t be making any movement up the standings.
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