Giants outslug A’s behind Casey Schmitt to even West Sacramento series at 1-1
For a night, the San Francisco Giants didn’t look like one of the worst offensive teams in baseball, as they beat the Athletics 6-4 in front of another sold out crowd on hand at West Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park.
It came hours after the Giants put starting outfielder Heliot Ramos, who leads the team with 20 runs batted in, on the injured list with a right quad strain, leaving his teammates to pick up the slack despite the Giants entering Saturday ranked last in Major League Ball in runs scored.
Casey Schmitt, who’s been one of the Giants’ few offensive producers in 2026, led the way with a pair of home runs off A’s ace Luis Severino as part of a four-hit night that included three RBIs. He leads the Giants with eight home runs on the season.
Schmitt’s first home run came with the bases empty in the first inning on a full count. It went 370 feet, clearing the left field wall after Luis Severino hung a sweeper in the middle of the plate, and made its way through strong wind. His second blast came in the fifth inning and banged off the top of the right field foul pole near Sutter Health Park’s “Home Run Hill” in right field, where fans — many donning orange and black this weekend — can catch the action from lawn seats.
Schmitt, a California native born and raised in San Diego who played college ball for San Diego State University, came into Saturday hitting just .214 in May, including a rough night at the plate Thursday in Los Angeles.
“I’m not dwelling on past days or past mistakes,” he said. “I try to keep it simple as that. I think a couple days ago I struck out four times against the Dodgers.”
Schmitt, 27, has played every infield position since joining the Giants in 2023, but he played the outfield for the first time on Friday after Ramos left the game with his injury. He didn’t get a ball there in his three innings, and didn’t play the field as a designated hitter Saturday, but spent time before the game reading fly balls to get acclimated in case he’s needed.
“It was a little interesting,” Schmitt said of his left field debut Friday. “I couldn’t find the mark to where I needed to stand, but good thing I had (Harrison) Bader out there to tell me where to go.”
It’s a unique scenario for many Giants players who played with Triple-A Sacramento, as the River Cats share Sutter Health Park with the A’s during their temporary stay before their planned move to Las Vegas in 2028.
Schmitt, a second-round draft pick of the Giants in 2020, spent parts of four seasons with the River Cats. The same is true for San Francisco’s starting pitcher Trevor McDonald, who allowed just one run Saturday over 6 2/3 innings with five strikeouts.
McDonald, who made his fourth big league appearance Saturday, pitched in 44 games over three seasons with the River Cats, whose biggest crowd at Sutter Health Park this season was 6,258, roughly half of Saturday’s sold out crowd of 12,489 featuring mostly Giants fans.
“It’s weird having all the fans here,” McDonald said. “It’s not like that when the River Cats play, so they definitely show up more for these games.”
More sellouts for A’s than 2025 already
Saturday’s game, which evened the series at a game apiece after the A’s 5-2 win Friday, was the eighth announced sellout of the season for the A’s through 21 home games after having just seven for all of 2025.
Brent Rooker hit a 3-run home run in the eighth for the A’s to make it 6-4. The 407-foot blast to left field drove in Nick Kurtz, who extended his MLB-leading on-base streak to 39 games with a walk.
The streak came close to ending as Kurtz began the night 0-3 after hitting home runs in his three straight games. Instead, he’ll have a chance Sunday to tie the Athletics franchise record of 40 straight games reaching base, held by Jack Cust.
Giants-A’s series finale
Saturday’s loss dropped the A’s to 23-22 on the season. They remain in first place in the American League West division, two games ahead of both the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers in the standings.
The Giants improved to 19-27, which ranks second-worst in the National League, ahead of only the Colorado Rockies (18-28).
The finale of the three-game set is 1:05 p.m. Sunday with the A’s starting lefty Jeffrey Springs (3-3, 4.22 ERA) against Giants right-hander Adrian Houser (1-4, 5.79).
