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There was a lot to like about the first six innings of Thursday’s Highway 80 Series finale for the San Francisco Giants. Then, the Giants’ terrible, horrible, no good, very bad bullpen got involved and an empowering sweep turned into an embarrassing 9-6 loss to the Sacramento A’s.
Victor Bericoto showed off his arm and his bat once again, Willy Adames went deep, and Jung Hoo Lee battled a tough lefty reliever for a three-run triple, but it was all for naught when the team’s public relations/on-field disaster of a bullpen took over.

Caleb Killian (2-4) took the loss after giving up four runs in the 9th inning, but it was a team effort to blow this game. For a group of pitchers who seem extremely homophobic, they apparently have no problem with a group of men getting together to suck, as long as it’s on a baseball field.
Rainbow Warrior Ryan Walker got the implosion going in the 7th inning, relieving Cap Buddy Landen Roupp after the Giants starter gave up two runs and struck out six in his six-inning stint. Walker gave up two singles, who both scored when Shea Langeliers hit a two-out RBI single off Erik Miller.
Dylan Smith pitched the 8th and yielded an RBI single to second baseman Jeff McNeil, who went 3-for-4 with two runs, an RBI, and a hit-by-pitch Wednesday, avenging Zach Gelof’s spiked hand from Tuesday’s game. Then, in the 9th, an ABS challenge turned a 3-2 count on Tyler Soderstrom to a walk, putting two runners on with two outs and creating an IBS challenge for the fans. Still, all he needed was one more out! That’s not so much to ask.
(Narrator: It was too much to ask.)

Jonah Heim tied the game, singling on a fastball straight down the middle. Lawrence Butler singled in the go-ahead run on a knuckle curve straight down the middle. After Butler stole second, Max “We’re Starting To Resent Him As Much As The Other One” Muncy knocked in two more runs on a fastball just slightly off the middle of the plate. That was it for Killian, the rally, and the game, though Muncy rubbed salt in the wound by stealing second, the third Athletics baserunner to take second in the inning off a shell-shocked Eric Haase.
It’s kind of amazing that answering baseball questions about this horrendous bullpen is actually considered the easier option for Giants personnel, but that’s where we are in 2026.
Rainbow integrity aficionado Roupp started off strong, escaping a two-on, one-out situation in the 3rd by striking out Nick Kurtz (say his name slowly) and Langeliers. In the 4th, Bericoto threw out a runner at second and in the 6th, Roupp bailed himself out with a nifty behind-the-back grab and double play.
The rookie outfielder nearly had another assist in the 5th on Alika Williams’ double, but Willy Adames’ relay throw pulled Daniel Susac and his sore back up the line, and McNeil scored. The A’s got their second run two batters later when Kurtz just barely beat out a double play.

Casey Schmitt crushed one off the dinger-prone Jeffrey Springs (5.1 IP, 3R, 3H, 6K) in the 5th inning, but like mail-in votes in a Los Angeles mayoral election, it swung left at the last moment and went foul. Willy Adames had no such issue when Springs left a high fastball over the plate two batters later. He made like Bill Clinton in 1992 and crushed it just left of center field for the first runs of the game. Just call him “Slick Willy.”
The Victor Bericoto Show continued Wednesday, where the Giants left fielder once again showed off his arm and his bat. Last night, he threw out Jacob Wilson at home and hit a 445-foot walkoff home run. Wednesday, he gunned down a stunned Tyler Soderstrom at second base, on a play that looked like a clear double off the bat.
In the 6th inning, he capped off the Giants’ five-run inning by hitting another 445-foot homer, this time a two-run bomb. If you’re wondering, both dingers would have been home runs in 30/30 major league ballparks.
Bericoto is doing this in the aftermath of two devastating earthquakes that hit his native Venezuela Tuesday. Along with Jose Butto and Luiz Arraez, Bericoto is wearing a “VZ” patch on his cap, while awaiting news of his friends and relatives. If you want to help the relief efforts, a good place to donate is Global Empowerment Mission.

There’s also no truth to the rumor that the Red Cross has declared the Giants bullpen a disaster area, so do not donate to any GoFundMe’s that JT Brubaker emails you about.
Finally, we should show Lee’s commendable bases-loaded hit in the 6th inning, which followed a highly disrespectful four-pitch walk to Willy Adames, the definition of the intentional-unintentional free pass. He fought off two nasty 0-2 pitches to stay alive, then got a gift when Butler tried for an impossible diving catch of Lee’s liner and turned it into a triple.
Why are the Athletics’ hats always falling off? Kurtz loses his helmet every time he comes to the plate, and all he’s doing is swinging the bat. Clearly Drew Gilbert will be studying game tape to figure out how he can make his own cap fall off even more often.

The two-game win streak is over. The Atlanta Braves are coming to town Friday, carrying a four-game losing streak and Joey Bart, both terrible omens for the fortunes of the orange and black. And the A’s are going to receive a strongly-worded letter from Senator Josh Hawley about their unfair treatment of the Giants bullpen.
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