Daz Cameron hit the first of four Oakland home runs, JP Sears threw seven shutout innings and the visiting Athletics thumped the San Francisco Giants 5-2 in the opener of their two-game rivalry series Tuesday night.
Lawrence Butler, Brent Rooker and JJ Bleday also homered for the A’s, who improved to 8-3 since the All-Star break.
The homers by Cameron, his fifth; Butler, his 12th; and Rooker, his 26th; all came against Giants starter Robbie Ray (1-1), who was making his second start of the season. Cameron and Butler hit solo shots in the second and third innings, respectively, before Rooker also brought home Butler, who had singled, with his homer in the fifth that gave Oakland a 4-0 lead.
That was the last batter Ray faced. He was pulled after 4 1/3 innings, having allowed four runs and seven hits. He walked three and struck out four.
Comforted with a lead most of the way, Sears (8-8) coasted through outing, during which he gave up just three hits and one walk. He struck out nine, the second-highest total of his career behind an 11-whiff effort against the Texas Rangers on April 21, 2023.
Sears didn’t allow any hits or walks with runners aboard.
Bleday added a third solo shot, his 13th, in the eighth, completing Oakland’s scoring and giving the A’s five or more runs in 11 of their past 14 games.
The Giants avoided a shutout with a run in the eighth on an RBI infield out by Derek Hill that scored Marco Luciano, who had doubled.
Oakland’s Austin Adams got the final out of the eighth in relief of Scott Alexander before Tyler Ferguson survived a shaky ninth to nail down the win.
The Giants pulled within 5-2 in the ninth on a two-out RBI single by Patrick Bailey, but Ferguson struck out pinch hitter LaMonte Wade Jr. to end it.
Butler had two hits and scored twice for the A’s, whose four homers gave them a major-league-leading 45 in July. Shea Langeliers and Zack Gelof also had two-hit nights as Oakland out-hit the hosts 10-5.
Bailey finished 2-for-4 for the Giants, who were coming off a four-game home sweep of the Colorado Rockies.