SAN FRANCISCO -- Goodbye Bay Bridge Series, hello ... Highway 80 Series?
Friday marked the beginning of a new era for the Giants and their former intra-market rivals, the artists previously known as the Oakland Athletics.
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SIGN UP HERE The Green and Gold paid their first visit to Oracle Park since their move to West Sacramento, and while the rivalry doesn't have nearly the same significance it once did, even as recently as last year, the atmosphere still resembled that neighborly rivalry.
It started with the two aces on the mound, as Logan Webb squared off against Athletics (22-23) lefty JP Sears (L, 4 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K's), who Wilmer Flores made pay for one mistake early in the game.
Here are three takeaways from the Giants' 9-1 win that improved their record to 26-19:
If Nobody's Got Me ...
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Bases loaded. No outs. Flores at the plate. Based on how his 2025 MLB season has gone, you can probably guess what happened next.
The Giants' RBI leader, who now is tied with New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge for the MLB lead (41), drove in San Francisco's first eight runs of the game. Yes, you read that correctly.
First, with a grand slam in the bottom of the third inning.
Oh, but he was just getting started.
Already with four RBI on the night, Flores came to the plate in the bottom of the sixth, with one out and runners on first and second, and lined his second homer of the game, and ninth this season, just over the left field wall for RBI five, six and seven on the night.
Just when you thought he was finished ...
With the Giants leading 7-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Flores launched a solo shot to left for his third homer and eighth RBI of the game.
Through the Giants' first 45 games this season, Flores is on a 147-RBI pace, which, simply put, is nowhere near realistic for what the veteran utility man ultimately will finish with.
However, if you were to tell the Giants before the season started that Flores would bat .266 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI, for the entire year, they would be thrilled. Let alone in less than two months.
All that production for $3.5 million this season.
The Usual Home Cookin'
Webb (W, 8 IP, 5 H, ER, 2 BB, 4 K's) is off to the best start of his MLB career and has continued to dominate at home. In four starts at Oracle Park this season, Webb has surrendered two earned runs in 28 1/3 innings pitched.
If the season ended today, Webb's Strikeouts Per Nine Innings (10.6) this season, prior to Friday's start, would be the highest of his seven-year career.
He was nothing short of excellent on Friday night, which, impressively, is par for the course for him when pitching at the friendly confines.
He would have been the biggest storyline of the night, if not for Flores.
Odes To The East Bay
The Giants are embracing the East Bay baseball fans whose team up-rooted from Oakland this offseason.
Oracle Park's lively "415" section in right-center field now has a banner that includes the iconic San Francisco area code plus "510," an East Bay Area code, which, not-so-coincidentally, is home to the Oakland Coliseum.
The East Bay acknowledgement didn't stop there, either. In between inning early in the game, members of the Pioneer League's Oakland Ballers organization were shown on the video board with public address announcer Carolyn McArdle saying: "Thank you for keeping baseball in Oakland alive."
It's fair to assume some A's fans might harbor some resentment toward the Giants for certain off-the-field ballpark-related factors, but if there are fans of the Green and Gold looking to call Oracle Park their baseball home in the near future, it's clear the Giants will embrace them.