The Athletics have fallen and can’t get up.
The Giants, even after splitting a four-game series in Arizona, are nine games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Their once-burgeoning National League West hopes have been relegated to a fringe wild card contender by the Fourth of July. The Dodgers win too often to make up that kind of ground.
Maybe it’s fitting the Giants and A’s will play their final series of the season against each other in a minor league ballpark. That’s the brand of baseball the former rivals are putting on display of late unless the Giants emerged from their slumber in the last two nights against Arizona.
The Battle of the Bay has devolved into a grim struggle for the hearts of Yolo County. In essence, the Athletics and Giants share a home in Sutter Health Park, where the A’s have taken up residence for the foreseeable future and the would-be Giants house their Triple-A affiliate in the Sacramento River Cats.
The Athletics are 36-53, 17 games out of first place in the American League West and could end up with another 100-loss season, in large part due to their home base until they get the Las Vegas mess sorted out. Questions remain even after a dog-and-pony groundbreaking ceremony in Las Vegas that The Guardian reported was done with rental equipment to use as props rather than any real work on a stadium.
The A’s lost 6-5 on the road to the Tampa Bay Rays Wednesday in another minor league stadium on the opposite side of the country. At least the Rays have an excuse. They lost their regular stadium to Hurricane Milton, not benign neglect.
The Giants are 47-41 after Robbie Ray’s complete-game gem in Arizona, having blown a ninth-inning lead Wednesday but winning 6-5 in the 10th when Camilo Doval recovered nicely from giving up a game-tying two-run home run to Ketel Marte with a save on the line.
On June 13, the Giants were 41-29 and tied for first with the Dodgers after Logan Webb won 6-2 at Dodger Stadium. They entered Thursday night’s game nine games behind the defending world champions. They lost nine games in the standings in 19 days. Their offense has been offensive, their relievers have fallen on hard times and two young starters in Hayden Birdsong and Landen Roupp failed to get into the fifth inning against Arizona.
Can’t hit. Can’t run the bases. Can’t close games. The Giants are 6-10 after the universally celebrated trade with the Boston Red Sox for Rafael Devers.
Since owner John Fisher cried uncle at the end of the 2020 season and pulled the plug on the franchise and the fan base in hopes of getting someone to give him millions of dollars for a new stadium, the A’s are 215-360. Their 2025 winning percentage of .404 is actually lower than last year’s .422, when a late season surge pushed them to 69-93.
In 2021, Fisher gave up all pretense of putting a winning team on the field — with the added bonus of allowing the Coliseum to become a haven for feral cats and marsupials — while raising ticket prices on a fan base that had valid reasons to stay away in droves.
This year was supposed to be different. Fisher even spread some money around to pitcher Luis Severino (three years, $67 million), outfielder Lawrence Butler (seven years, $65.5 million) and designated hitter/outfielder Brent Rooker (five years, $60 million). Manager Mark Kotsay got an extension.
Fisher actually benefitted from those signings financially in terms of staying one step ahead of the grievance procedure from the Major League Baseball Players Association for his refusal to spend, at the same time keeping the A’s in the realm of teams qualifying for revenue sharing.
Rafael Devers hit just .203 in his first 15 games with the Giants. Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group
With All-Star rookie shortstop Jacob Wilson (.339 batting average), Rooker (18 homers 46 RBIs), left fielder Tyler Soderstrom (14 homers, 46 RBIs), Butler (11 homers, 34 RBIs), slugging rookie first baseman Nick Kurtz (12 homers, 32 RBIs in 49 games) and catcher Shea Langeliers (12 homers, 32 RBIs), the A’s actually have some pieces in place for a solid lineup. Closer Mason Miller has had a couple of hiccups but can still throw 102 miles per hour.
But the overall pitching has been a disaster, with a 5.67 earned run average at home and 5.01 on the road. Severino is 2-9 and has given up a league-high 110 hits with a 5.09 earned run average. His home record is 0-7, his ERA 6.79. And he has a pretty good idea why.
“It feels like a spring training kind of game every time I pitch, and every time other guys pitch,” Severino told The Athletic. “We don’t have that at home right now. It’s not the same. It’s not the same atmosphere. We don’t have a lot of fans. Our clubhouse is in left field. So, when we play day games, we have to just be in the sun. There’s no air conditioning there, too. It’s really tough.”
I know. We should all be so fortunate as to get paid $67 million for such hardships. And I haven’t had the pleasure of watching an A’s game in West Sacramento. But is this a major league operation, or is it not? Severino is saying out loud what others on staff and around the league are thinking.
As for the Giants, other than Webb, Ray and relievers Randy Rodriguez and Tyler Rogers, how many players have actually met or exceeded expectations? Not Devers. Not Matt Chapman (injured). Not Patrick Bailey. Not Jung Hoo Lee. Not Justin Verlander. Certainly not Willy Adames. Not Ryan Walker. Only Ramos is close.
Judging from the airwaves on the Giants’ flagship (KNBR-610), a lot of fans would be fine moving on from Mike Yastrzemski although he’s surged of late. They’re not too keen about the extension for manager Bob Melvin either, and even director of baseball operations Buster Posey is catching some strays as Devers isn’t yet hitting his weight (240 pounds, .210 batting average) in his first 16 games as a Giant.
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Doval has been off and on, exhibiting both sides of his split personality Wednesday night. Wilmer Flores carried the team for awhile before falling off. Heliot Ramos has been a glimmer of hope offensively, although his defense has room for improvement.
Depending on how things go at their Triple-A park against the A’s, the Giants could be looking at a .500 record or worse after they return home for six games against the Phillies and the Dodgers before the All-Star break.
Before taking on two legitimate World Series threats, the first order of business is winning the battle of Yolo County.