The last time the San Francisco Giants met the Oakland A’s, one of the top clubs in the American League was asserting its dominance over a last-place team in the National League West.

The A’s swept the Giants at Oracle Park, engineering a pair of stunning ninth-inning comebacks against reliever Trevor Gott before trouncing San Francisco 15-3 in a series finale. A month later, the teams are meeting again at the Oakland Coliseum and while the Giants are in a much different place, they still haven’t figured out how to beat the A’s.

A Giants team that’s now fighting for a Wildcard spot in the postseason lost a critical series opener 6-0 on Friday at the Coliseum in the club’s first shutout defeat in a nine-inning game this year.

Manager Gabe Kapler’s club began the day in sole possession of the first Wildcard berth and ended the day tied for the second spot. The Phillies (26-25) climbed above .500 with a pair of wins over the Blue Jays and the Cardinals (24-24) moved to .500 with two wins over the Pirates, so the Giants (25-25) will be pressured to bounce back right away on Saturday.

The Giants expect veterans Kevin Gausman and Johnny Cueto to start the final two games of the series, but both pitchers needed extra rest after Gausman experienced right elbow tightness and Cueto dealt with right hip pain during the week. The minor injuries led the Giants to call on right-hander Logan Webb to face the A’s on Friday and command issues that have plagued the rookie for much of the season showed up in Oakland.

Webb needed 90 pitches to finish just 3 1/3 innings and left the game with the Giants trailing 6-0. A’s first baseman Matt Olson launched a three-run home run in the third inning, but nearly every Oakland hitter contributed to early rallies.

Webb started the night in a hole after second baseman Donovan Solano committed another defensive mistake in a season filled with them. Solano remains in contention for the National League batting title and has been one of the club’s most consistent hitters all year, but his defense has been a major weakness this year and it cost Webb a first inning run.

With one on and one out, Solano fielded a Mark Canha grounder on the right side of second base and attempted to get the lead runner instead of using his momentum to get the sure out at first base. An errant throw left the A’s with a runner in scoring position and new third baseman Jake Lamb took advantage with a RBI single.

The game didn’t slip away from Webb until the third inning when Olson yanked a 110.6 mile per hour rocket inside the right field foul pole, giving Oakland a 4-0 lead. In the fourth, Webb completely lost his control as he hit a batter and allowed three singles before turning the game over to an overworked Giants bullpen.

“I’ve just got to compete and I’ve just got to be better,” Webb said. “I’m frustrated right now.”

Despite four consecutive starts in which he has failed to record at least six innings, Kapler reiterated his confidence in Webb and said he’ll make his next scheduled start next week.

“Logan has been a competitive major league starter for us,” Kapler said. “He’s had some good outings. Tonight was not a good outing, but he definitely needs to be in our rotation.”

The Giants’ offense didn’t do the team any favors in the early innings against A’s right-hander Chris Bassitt as hitters consistently chased pitches early in the count. Bassitt didn’t throw more than 16 pitches in an inning until the sixth and struck out seven Giants hitters in 6 2/3 innings.

A loss against Oakland ended the Giants’ interleague win streak at seven games as the club had won four against the Mariners and three against the Angels on their way from the NL West cellar to the NL Wildcard race. Two more defeats wouldn’t necessarily sink the Giants’ playoff chances, but with Philadelphia and St. Louis surging on Friday, the Giants know time is running out to find a way to beat the A’s.

“As a team, we didn’t have our best stuff tonight,” catcher Joey Bart said. “All the way around, we got beat. So we’ve just got to turn around tomorrow and get a win.”

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