WEST SACRAMENTO -- The Giants debuted a new outfielder in their 5-2 series-opening loss to the A’s on Friday night at Sutter Health Park.
Infielder Casey Schmitt made his first career appearance in left field after Heliot Ramos was forced to depart the game with right quad tightness in the sixth inning.
Ramos hurt his quad while attempting to make a sliding catch on Jeff McNeil’s opposite-field single off Tyler Mahle in the bottom of the fifth inning. He looked uncomfortable in his next at-bat against A’s reliever Joel Kuhnel in the top of the sixth, striking out swinging before walking off the field accompanied by a team trainer.
Ramos described his quad as “tight, sore” after the game and said he hoped to undergo an MRI on Saturday to determine the extent of the injury.
“He was kind of selling out to try to make a play there on the ball that was a flare to left field,” manager Tony Vitello said. “Just with some discomfort in there. He’ll probably get looked at either postgame or tomorrow, at least to follow up and check up on how he’s doing. With where he was at with it, it didn’t seem like the right thing to send him back out there.
“I’d like to think it’s not anything too severe. I think it’d be safe to say he wouldn’t play tomorrow.”
The Giants had three other players on their bench with outfield experience -- center fielder Drew Gilbert and versatile catchers Eric Haase and Jesus Rodriguez -- but they opted to replace Ramos with Schmitt, who hadn’t played the outfield since his sophomore year of high school.
Schmitt can play all four infield positions, but he’s been getting most of his starts at designated hitter after crushing a team-high six home runs with an .808 OPS over 37 games this year. He started taking fly balls in the outfield to help make room for No. 1 prospect Bryce Eldridge, who has been splitting time at first base and DH with Rafael Devers since being recalled from Triple-A Sacramento on May 4.
“He’s worked hard at it,” Vitello said of Schmitt. “If anyone deserves teammate of the week, it’s Casey. He’s produced well for us at the plate. It is easier to hit when you’re in there every day and you’re in a rhythm. It certainly would be easier to be playing one position. He never complains. He’s been working hard all over the field, including left field.
“Unfortunate things pop up like what happened with Ramos, so at least he was ready to go. It was a perfect runway for us. I think he’s fully capable out there, but it is a little bit more of a comfortable runway when we’re down and you need offense, not defense.”
Schmitt didn’t see any action in left field over his three innings at the position on Friday, but Ramos said he’s confident the 27-year-old will be ready to handle whatever comes his way.
“He’s been working for a minute, I think he’s pretty good,” Ramos said. “I talked to him a couple of times whenever he was out there. We worked a little bit together. I think he’ll be fine.”
The Giants flashed some power on Friday, with Luis Arraez and Harrison Bader each launching solo shots off A’s right-hander Aaron Civale.
Arraez tied the game with his first home run for the Giants, a fourth-inning solo shot that went out to the right-field corner and kicked off his 4-for-5 night at the plate.
“Finally, thank God,” said Arraez, who hadn’t homered since Sept. 23 of last year. “It’s good starting the game like that and tying the game, but we still lost. It’s good for me, but it’s not good for the team. I just want to do my thing. I just need to come tomorrow and try to do the little things and win the game.”
Bader’s home run briefly put San Francisco ahead, 2-1, but the A’s regained the lead on Nick Kurtz’s decisive three-run bomb off Mahle in the bottom of the fifth. The Giants have now lost three in a row, falling to 18-27 on the season.
“It was a frustrating inning,” Vitello said. “You can’t take much away from them, with how Kurtz hit the ball. But it was a frustrating inning from the start. They did what they had to do. They found some holes.”