San Francisco Giants Have Home Field Advantage Over A's in Sacramento

The fans who got to view batting practice got a treat of seeing A's and Giants up close and personal, while also getting the chance to collect some autographs. The fans that Athletics on SI spoke with on Saturday spanned all the way from Seattle to the Bay Area to the Sacramento area.

One gentleman, who brought his two kids out to the park, lives in nearby Folsom, CA and was donning an A's jersey, while his kids were in Giants jerseys. He joked they were a "split family" but that he was excited for this series to see both teams.

Baseball is a central part of the Sacramento sports landscape. No one knows that better than Saturday night's starting pitcher, Logan Webb, who attended Rocklin High School and was a multi-sport athlete.

He's been invested and involved in his hometown community, and always shows support via his social media and in the press. He even spoke at Del Oro High School this past off season to discuss mental health and substance abuse with the students.

Sacramento returns the favor in every way they can, always voicing their support and love for the local star. Fans gave him a long standing ovation as he walked off the mound after his strong outing on Saturday night, and he commented after the game he wished he'd given a wave or gesture to the fans, but that he appreciated it all the same.

Although the Athletics lost the series to San Francisco, the Athletics had a great weekend attendance wise, selling out all three games which brought in over 36,000 fans total. They even broke the attendance record for the history of the ballpark, which opened in 2000. Game 1 brought in a crowd of 12,322, with Game 2 at 12,298 and Game 3 drawing 12,180.

Next, the A's will continue their homestand with two series before the All-Star break. against the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays. The struggling Braves may also be a potential landing spot for this A's starting pitcher before the deadline, so it will be an interesting series for both teams as they assess their clubs.

The A's would like to finish strong, and hope to do that by sending Jeffrey Springs to the mound, one of their best starting pitchers as of late, against right-hander Didier Fuentes . First pitch for Game 1 against the Braves is on Tuesday night at 7:05 PDT.