SF Giants-Athletics rivalry has devolved into the battle for Yolo County

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 Medical 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 - games out of first place in the American League West and could end up with another -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 disclosed was done with rental equipment to use as props rather than any real work on a stadium The A s lost - 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 - after Robbie Ray s complete-game gem in Arizona having blown a ninth-inning lead Wednesday but winning - in the th 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 the Giants were - and tied for first with the Dodgers after Logan Webb won - at Dodger Stadium They entered Thursday night s encounter nine games behind the defending world champions They lost nine games in the standings in 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 - after the universally celebrated deal with the Boston Red Sox for Rafael Devers Since owner John Fisher cried uncle at the end of the 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 - Their winning percentage of is certainly lower than last year s when a late season surge pushed them to - In Fisher gave up all pretense of putting a winning squad 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 specific money around to pitcher Luis Severino three years million outfielder Lawrence Butler seven years million and designated hitter outfielder Brent Rooker five years million Manager Mark Kotsay got an extension Fisher indeed 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 in his first games with the Giants Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group With All-Star rookie shortstop Jacob Wilson batting average Rooker homers RBIs left fielder Tyler Soderstrom homers RBIs Butler homers RBIs slugging rookie first baseman Nick Kurtz homers RBIs in games and catcher Shea Langeliers homers RBIs the A s really have specific pieces in place for a solid lineup Closer Mason Miller has had a couple of hiccups but can still throw miles per hour But the overall pitching has been a mishap with a earned run average at home and on the road Severino is - and has given up a league-high hits with a earned run average His home record is - his ERA And he has a pretty good idea why It feels like a spring training kind of match every time I pitch and every time other guys pitch Severino informed 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 million for such hardships And I haven t had the pleasure of watching an A s event 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 multiple players have really 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- 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 particular strays as Devers isn t yet hitting his weight pounds batting average in his first games as a Giant Related Articles years after debut SF Giants Verlander reflects on first career start Ray throws second career complete challenge as SF Giants split series in Arizona SF Giants Chapman to play rehab encounter could return this weekend SF Giants Doval blows save in ninth secures win in th to snap losing streak Flores Devers Wisely How SF Giants can buy time until Chapman Schmitt return Doval has been off and on exhibiting both sides of his split personality Wednesday night Wilmer Flores carried the club 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 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