A’s edge Giants before biggest home crowd of the season

OAKLAND — It got quiet when Luis Matos stepped into the batter’s box for the Giants to face A’s right-hander Paul Blackburn.

Then, in the moments before Matos grounded harmlessly to second baseman Zack Gelof for the first out of the fifth inning, the chanting began.

“Sell the team!”

Sell the team!

Sell the team!”

It was yet another message to A’s owner John Fisher, reviled by the local fan base for letting their beloved franchise fall into disrepair before making a deal to play in a new stadium on the Las Vegas strip.

“I don’t really hear much out there, but all of a sudden they started chanting and it’s like a wave that hits you,” Blackburn said after a 2-1 win over the Giants before a season-high crowd of 37,533. “I don’t know how much people realize how much fans do for players as far as bringing energy.”

Blackburn, who said he needed to turn up his pitch-com microphone to hear the signals during the chant, pitched six scoreless innings, giving up two hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in his best performance of the season.

Seth Brown singled in Aledmys Diaz with the lead run with two out against Scott Alexander in the bottom of the eighth, with Oakland’s other run coming on a solo home run by Jordan Diaz in the bottom of the fifth.

Trevor May, who came in the eighth and gave up a game-tying sacrifice fly, pitched the ninth and improved to 3-4 as the A’s improved to 31-80 and snapped a four-game losing streak. The Giants fell to 61-50.

The attendance figure topped the previous high of 27,759 on June 13, a win against Tampa Bay in the game that started the “reverse boycott” movement designed to draw attention to a fan base that feels it is unfairly characterized by uncaring and disinterested in terms of actually showing up to games.

Other factors in the crowd size included the presence of the Giants, a tribute to the late Vida Blue, as well as a baseball card giveaway.

The A’s largest attendance during last season’s 102-loss season was 40,065 against the Giants on Aug. 6.

The A’s went into the game averaging 10,076 fans, last in the majors by a good margin. Fans broke out the chant on several occasions, with the biggest crescendo coming as expected in the top of the fifth.

“It’s so great to have that type of energy in the stands, and when we’ve had those crowds, we’ve played well,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “So it feels good to sit here after a game like that and be on the right side of it and have 35,000-plus people in the stands. Good day for our ballclub.”

When meeting with reporters before the game, Kotsay has done what he can to shield his players from stadium politics while at the same time appreciating the fan reaction.

“I don’t get into it but you can’t ignore it,” Kotsay said. “By all means I understand it. In no way do I feel it’s directed at our players. The Oakland fans, since I’ve been here as a player in 2004, when they show up they bring energy and there’s just a feeling of confidence you have a player when this place is packed.”

Unlike most days when driving into the Coliseum is a breeze, the parking lot began filling in on both the south side and the north side two hours before the first pitch.

There was a hub of activity on the north side, where A’s fans mixed, mingled, and participated with Giants fans for a common cause that certainly isn’t necessarily shared by Giants brass — keeping the A’s in Oakland.

Jorge Leon of Oakland and the non-profit Oakland 68s sat in the back of a silver pickup, sipping a drink, and noted the crowd filing in.

“From the looks of it, it can be bigger than the last one,” Leon said. “It’s pretty packed.”

Leon said he’s not naive enough to think Fisher will sell the franchise out of the goodness of his heart, but hoped fans would continue to apply the pressure.

Does he think Fisher may actually sell the team, or is the movement simply about doing something — anything — to save something special?

“At this point it’s a little of both. John Fisher thinks he can just pack up and leave without repercussion,” Leon said. “We won’t stop even if if there are shovels in the ground in Las Vegas. We’ll make it tough for them.”

Kevin Cruz of Daly City, who said he owns season ticket packages for both teams, handed out yellow “rally towels” emblazoned with the words “Sell the Team” and “Battle of the Bay” superimposed over a drawing of the Bay Bridge.

Cruz said 10,000 towels were on site, and each time he handed one out he thanked fans for their support and reminded them of the moment of silence and “sell the team” chant which would take place at the start of the fifth inning.

“It’s a small, grass roots movement that has snowballed into something big with thousands joining in,” Cruz said. “We’re even getting Giants fans to help.”

Gabriel Hernandez of Oakland, a self-described social media influencer and supporter of the fan group “Last Dive Bar,” is heartened at what has taken place since the A’s initial “reverse boycott” on June 13.

Since then, the “Sell the Team” movement has found its way into coverage of the MLB Draft, the All-Star Game in Seattle and A’s series in San Francisco, Colorado and Los Angeles.

“Before it was just Oakland, but it’s turned into a full-fledged movement,” Hernandez said. “I’m hearing from people from other states that want to get involved.”

Hernandez doesn’t envision the protests ending even if the A’s are playing in a lame duck season in Oakland next season with the potential actual construction beginning on a new home.

“I don’t think anyone has thought that far ahead,” Hernandez said. “We haven’t talked about an end to the reverse boycott. We’ll keep pressing and we won’t stop until John Fisher is out of baseball.”

Will MacNeill of Dublin, a longtime season ticket holder who can be found in the right field bleachers, plans on riding with the A’s until they’re actually out the door.

“Maybe it will make a difference, and  maybe it won’t,” MacNeill said. “But it will get people to think, and maybe we can get the MLB to think in terms of expansion and make it so we get to keep the colors. I would think there would be some support to keep two teams in the Bay Area.”

Ruiz beats Bailey

Esteury Ruiz, the lightning fast right-fielder who missed 22 games with a shoulder subluxation, punched a single to right in his first at-bat and stole second off Giants’ throwing phenom Patrick Bailey.

“He gets on first, you know at some point he’s going to run, and he actually modified it to a delay steal and outran the baseball,” Kotsay said. “Bailey has a strong arm, put it on the money and he’s still safe.”

It was the 44th steal for Ruiz. Ruiz led the league in steals at the time of his injury but has fallen behind Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna. He still leads the American League.

Notable

— Left fielder JJ Bleday made a sliding catch in left of a blooper by Brandon Crawford and then rose to double off Patrick Bailey off first base in the top of the seventh inning.

— Rookie right-hander Mason Miller, who has missed 76 games since going on the injured list with right forearm tightness, threw a 25-pitch bullpen session and will have another one on Tuesday.

“We’re making progress. We’re going in the right direction,” Kotsay said.

Miller was 0-2 with a 3.38 earned run average in four starts including throwing seven no-hit innings against the Seattle Mariners on May 2.