OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
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SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS NOTES:
TODAY’S GAME: After snapping their six-game losing streak yesterday with a 2-1 win, the Giants will look to sweep this brief two-game series with the A’s in tonight’s series finale… SF is 1-6 in their last seven games but is 6-6 in 12 games since the All-Star break.
ROSTER MOVES: IF Marco Luciano (#37) was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento earlier today…IF David Villar was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento postgame last night.
THOSE STREAKS AIN’T STREAKS NO MORE…: In addition to snapping their six-game losing streak with last night’s win, OF Mike Yastrzemski’s go-ahead double in the 8th
inning also snapped the Giants 0-for-28 run with runners in scoring position that dated to last Thursday in Cincinnati… prior to Yastrzemski’s double, SF’s last hit with RISP came last Wednesday in its 3-2 loss to the Reds when Blake Sabol reached on an infield single with Luis Matos at second base in the 2nd inning…more specifically for Yastrzemski, his hit snapped a personal 0-for-21 stretch at the plate.
MARCO…POLO…MARCO…(PSST, HE’S HERE): IF Marco Luciano, SF’s #2 prospect and the #15 prospect in all the minors according to MLB.com, has been recalled from Triple-A and will seek his Major League debut tonight…it’s the second promotion in a week for the 21-year-old as he was only promoted to Triple-A Sacramento seven days ago on July 19…in six games with the River Cats, Luciano batted .292 (7-for-24) with two doubles, two homers, three RBI, five runs scored and three walks…since June 10 (when Luciano was still in Double-A Richmond), he’s slashed .305/.407/.576 with eight doubles, eight homers, 20 RBI, 25 runs scored, 21 walks and three steals in 32 games (26 at Richmond and six at Sacramento)…Luciano was SF’s top international signing back in 2018 as a 16-year-old.
RONALD REAGAN…THE ACTOR???: When Luciano and OF Luis Matos get into a game together for the first time it will be the first time in over 40 years that the Giants will have two players under the age of 22 appear in the same game according to Elias…below are the different dates and scenarios of the last time it’s happened.
The last time the Giants had any two players under the age of 22 appear in the same game:
October 2, 1982 vs. Los Angeles-NL RHP Scott Garrelts & IF Tom O’Malley The last time the Giants had any two POSITION players under the age of 22 appear in the same game:
May 30, 1982 at Pittsburgh IF Tom O’Malley & C Jeff Ransom The last time the Giants had any two POSITION Players START a game and were under the age of 22:
May 9, 1982 at New York-NL IF Tom O’Malley & C Jeff Ransom
HOME SWEET HOME: The Giants continue their nine-game homestand, their longest of the year, with the final game of this two-game series with the A’s, followed by three games against the Red Sox (Friday-Sunday) and a four-game set against the Diamondbacks (July 31-August 3)…SF has won each of its last three games (as well as four of their last five) at Oracle Park dating to before the All-Star break…the Giants have won three of their last four series at Oracle overall…13 of SF’s next 18 games after this series are at Oracle Park.
DOING THE BULL DANCE…: IF Wilmer Flores didn’t have a hit yesterday but did walk twice and scored a run…his 1.196 OPS this month is fourth-highest in the Majors behind HOU’s Kyle Tucker (1.253), LAD’s Freddie Freeman (1.203) and CHC’s Cody Bellinger (1.200)…his 91% contact percentage this month is also fourth-best (his contact % for the season is 85%)…Flores has been hot since the beginning of June, going 34-for-90 (.378) with 16 runs, eight doubles, seven home runs, 16 RBI and a 1.153 OPS in 31 games.
THE (D)OVAL OFFICE: RHP Camilo Doval notched his 31st save of the season last night, striking out the side in the 9th inning…Doval’s 31 saves are most in the Majors while his 46 appearances are tied for 10th-most in MLB…the last Giants reliever to notch 31 saves was LHP Jake McGee in 2021…the last Giant to save more than 31 games was LHP Will Smith in 2019 (34)…the last Giants righty to save 31 or more games in a season was Santiago Casilla (31 in 2016).
LOOKING FOR THE SPARK: SF scratched out enough runs to win yesterday’s game but is still averaging 1.6 runs over its last seven games (11 total runs)…the Giants .611 team OPS this month is lowest in the Majors as is their 3.15 runs per game…the Giants are 9-11 overall so far in July.
WE’RE COSTCO SHOPPERS: The Giants are turning to RHP Ryan Walker to open tonight’s game against the A’s…Walker has opened five games for SF this season and the Giants have gone 5-0 in those five contests with Walker allowing four runs in 6.2 innings (5.40 ERA) in an opener role…when using an opener overall this year, the Giants are 11-4…SF had won seven straight games when using an opener before losing Sunday afternoon’s game at Washington…LHP Scott Alexander opened that game for the Giants and was charged with two earned runs after leaving the inning with two on and two out.
RINSE & REPEAT: Today marks SF’s 13th straight day with a game out of the All-Star break and they’ll finally get a breather tomorrow with an off day before the Red Sox come to town.
GET SOME REST: Following tomorrow’s off day, the Giants begin a stretch where they play 16 of their next 18 games against teams that currently are at or above .500…SF has gone 28-23 (.549) vs. teams that are currently .500 or better, the fourth-best such winning percentage in the Majors… the Giants will need to continue that trend as they have the fourth-hardest remaining strength of schedule in the National League (.516 opponent win %).
