Giants second baseman Donovan Solano rounded third base a bit too far in the top of the fourth inning of a scoreless game, and A’s first baseman Matt Olson simply reacted. If anyone needed a reminder why he is the best in the game, here was a reminder.

On Saturday afternoon as the A’s played a crisp, smart, nearly perfect baseball game and beat the Giants, 6-0, to move to the threshold of clinching the American League West, Olson’s laser throw stood out afterward.

“Nobody makes that play that well,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “He's just one of a kind. He's the best defensively at first I’ve ever seen, that I've ever had. And he makes it look easy.”

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This was a day of textbook baseball for the A’s, who lowered their magic number to clinch their first division title in seven years to one. At 33-19, they lead the AL West by seven games over the Astros.

The A’s said they would prefer to win one more game themselves rather than claim the AL West on an Astros loss, and they got their wish later on Saturday when Houston beat the D-backs, 3-2.

Some of the A’s said they would do some scoreboard watching Saturday night to see what happened with the Astros. Regardless, Oakland will have a chance to clinch Sunday -- either with their win or Houston’s loss -- and then celebrate afterward.

“It’s always better when you win and do it as opposed to somebody else losing and kind of making it happen,” Olson said. “We’re going to continue to take care of our business regardless. Games do still matter. And we want to have some momentum going into the playoffs.”

If a future playoff opponent were watching the A’s on Saturday, they would have seen a team that does everything well. Even in an offensively challenged year, they’ve figured out a way to win close games and deliver at big moments.

They won on Saturday because Jesús Luzardo, their 22-year-old future ace, pitched six shutout innings after experimenting with a new slider grip while warming up. He liked the feel so much that he took it into the game and found that it had more velocity and later break than his previous version, a nice addition to his fastball/curveball/changeup arsenal.

“I thought he was great,” Melvin said. “I mean, I'll always think he's great. His stuff’s off the charts.”

The Giants scored six runs in 3 1/3 innings off Luzardo on Aug. 14. This time, with the new slider and command of his 96 mph fastball, he was never in real trouble.

“I was able to mix it up and keep them off-balance,” he said. “Last time, they were really hunting that sinker, and I wasn’t putting it where I needed to put it.”

Now about that slider.

“I changed the grip right before the game and just went with it,” he said. “I threw one, and it said 89 or 88 mph [on the scoreboard]. Which is unreal for me. I’ve never thrown a slider above 85. Which is pretty cool.”

Once Melvin got six innings from Luzardo, he turned the game over to one of baseball’s best bullpens to close out the final three innings. There were other moments that stood out, like Mark Canha alertly taking second base on a ball in the dirt and scoring on Olson’s single to center in the fourth inning.

But it was the defensive play by the two-time Gold Glove Award winner at first that stood out.

“Sometimes guys can get a little aggressive rounding [third],” Olson said. “Just in case something happens and [they] try to score. [Solano] took a little too aggressive of a turn, and I was able to get him.”

As Luzardo said, “That’s the play we expect out of Olson. You shouldn't ever expect a play like that, but when Oly makes it that often, it becomes like an expectation out of him.”

The A’s broke it open with five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning after Giants starter Kevin Gausman allowed just one run in six innings. Stephen Piscotty singled with one out, and Melvin let his new third baseman, lefty-hitting Jake Lamb, stay in the game to hit off San Francisco southpaw reliever Sam Selman.

Lamb delivered a towering home run to right to make it 3-0, and the A’s went on to send nine men to the plate and score three more times. The A’s have won 10 of their past 15.

“Guys are playing loose, they're playing at a high level, they know what's at stake,” Melvin said.