San Francisco Giants offense comes to life in 8-3 win over Athletics

Jul 27, 2023, 9:08 AM

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 26: San Francisco Giants celebrate a win against the Oakland Athle...

(Photo by Suzanna Mitchell/San Francisco Giants/Getty Images)

Sacramento Kings Beat Writer

At long last, the San Francisco Giants’ bats have woken up.

Following a seven-game stretch that saw the Giants bat .154 while averaging 1.6 runs per contest, San Francisco put an eight-spot on its Bay Area counterpart on Wednesday night.

Austin Slater’s go-ahead home run during the bottom of the sixth inning broke a 3-3 tie and sent the Giants on their way to claiming an 8-3 win over the Oakland Athletics.

San Francisco (56-47) has brushed off a six-game losing streak by winning two-straight games over the A’s at Oracle Park and will now look ahead to a weekend series against the Boston Red Sox.

Slater (go-ahead) tater 🥔 pic.twitter.com/NP1sOViMY9

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) July 27, 2023

Alex Wood entered Wednesday’s game in relief during the top of the fifth inning and hurled three scarless innings to pick up the win against Oakland.

“We’ve got two months. We’ve got a really tough schedule in August, so every [game] matters,” Wood said following the win over the Athletics. “So it’s show up and go to work.”

Wood and the rest of the Giants’ bullpen held things down late as Oakland failed to score during the final five innings.

Elk Grove native J.D. Davis drilled his 13th home run of the year during the win, while Casey Schmitt, Brett Wisley, Patrick Bailey, and Mike Yastrzemski all drove runs in against the Athletics.

San Francisco’s nine hits on Wednesday were the most they have had in a single game since July 18th, when they racked up 11 against the Cincinnati Reds.

JDeuces ✌️ pic.twitter.com/QtFVvFX9ah

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) July 27, 2023

“We definitely needed this,” Slater said of his team’s return to form. “It was great to see everyone contribute all the way down the line. It’s something we’ve been missing the last week-plus.”

The Giants fared well against an Athletics team on its way to a 100-loss season, but they will have a tough test on their hands when they face the red-hot Boston Red Sox at Oracle Park this weekend.

Following Thursday’s off-day, San Francisco will face the Red Sox–a team that has posted a 14-5 record in July–in a three-game set that will lead into the MLB trade deadline.

Tuesday’s deadline will bring plenty of changes around the league, and the Giants are rumored to be in the market for starting pitching and middle infield help.

For now, San Francisco will enjoy the off-day on the heels of a much-needed offensive performance before looking ahead to the deadline.