Giants, A’s fans unite in protest as San Francisco beats Oakland 2-1

Different ballpark, same message: For Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher to ‘SELL THE TEAM’

Thousands of fans from both sides of the bay came together to protest the Oakland Athletics’ planned move to Las Vegas on Tuesday night when the team lost 2-1 to the San Francisco Giants.

In a campaign called Unite The Bay, fans of the rivaling teams stood side-by-side in rare solidarity, wearing Oakland green and gold and Giants orange and black.

A crowd of 40,014 fans attended the game. During the fifth inning, they passionately chanted “Sell the team!” directed toward A’s owner John Fisher, along with the plea to “Stay in Oakland.” Some fans even played horns in unison to add to the noise. At the same time, #selltheteam was trending on social media.

“Totally understand the sentiment in the bay and totally understand the sentiment in the ballpark tonight,” said Giants manager Gabe Kapler.

A’s left-hander Ken Waldichuk also shared the feeling and said he understood the crowd’s intensity.

“They’re definitely passionate. I grew up; my parents were from the Bay Area, so I’ve known how passionate they’ve been in the past, as well. I think they’re pretty great fans,” said Waldichuk.

Fans in other baseball cities took notice of the protest, and they encouraged each other on social media to do something similar in support of the A’s when the team visits their cities.

“Totally understand the sentiment in the bay and totally understand the sentiment in the ballpark tonight.”

Gabe Kapler, manager of the San Francisco Giants

Tuesday’s game highlights

The Giants did not back down on the field despite fans uniting to support the A’s. Mike Yastrzemski’s go-ahead double in the eighth inning lifted the Giants to a 2-1 victory over the A’s in the opener of the Bay Bridge Series.

The Giants had been struggling, losing six straight games before this win. Alex Cobb pitched six scoreless innings for the Giants, striking out nine. JJ Bleday tied the game for the Giants in the eighth inning with a single before Yastrzemski’s double gave the Giants the lead for good.

“For our team to be successful, we’re going to have to have some more consistently productive at-bats,” manager Kapler said. “So we’re not where we want to be, but we came away with a win tonight. That’s all that matters.”

The win was much-needed for the Giants, who are now 55-47 on the season. The A’s, meanwhile, fell to 28-75. The rivals will meet again in a two-game rematch in Oakland on August 5-6.