SACRAMENTO — The Giants came out of Sacramento with a good win.
After getting off to a slow start in the series opener on Thursday, the Giants closed out the Athletics on Sunday to notch a 6-2 win in front of a sold out crowd of 12,180 fans and capture the I-80 series.
Shortstop Willy Adames went 1 for 3, hit a solo homer and drove in three runs. He totaled seven RBIs in the series against the A’s. Rafael Devers and Wilmer Flores each had two hits and scored once.
Hayden Birdsong made his second career start against the A’s, striking out five and allowing a home run across five innings. Birdsong has not gone past five innings in his last four starts.
San Francisco put its first three batters on base in the first inning, but only scored once when Adames was walked with the bases loaded, scoring Heliot Ramos.
After taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth, the A’s responded with a home run from Tyler Soderstrom to cut the deficit to one run.
But just when it looked like the A’s were finding their groove, the Giants broke the game open in the fifth inning.
San Francisco loaded the bases after Wilmer Flores’ blooper to right center field advanced Andrew Knizne to third and Rafael Devers to second. Two batters later, Adames walked in another run with the bases loaded to give the Giants a 3-1 lead.
In the next at-bat, Luis Matos knocked in two runs on a ground rule double when he hit a laser to right center field that bounced off the warning and into the Giants’ bullpen.
To add insult to injury, Tyler Fitzgerald hit a deep fly ball to the warning tracks in the eighth inning that looked like it was caught by Soderstrom in left field. The ball bounced off the third-year player’s glove and over the wall to give San Francisco a 6-1 lead.
It was Fitzgerald’s first home run since April 17.
The Giants will return to Oracle Park on Monday when they play the Philadelphia Phillies.