SAN FRANCISCO – The week-long heat wave has been great for businesses in coastal cities like Half Moon Bay, Sausalito and San Francisco.

The scorching heat pushed a lot of inland neighbors to cool off along the Pacific Coast.

“We see a lot of guests coming from Sacramento, the East Bay, even the Central Valley will come up for overnight, just to get away from the heat because it’s so unbearable,” said Bob Partrite, CEO of Fog Harbor Fish House at Pier 39 in San Francisco.

Partrite said the length of the heat wave gave them time to bring in more food, alcohol and chefs and servers to handle the rush. He said the heat has been great for business since Monday.

“We’ve got five restaurants here, so we’ve seen a 15 to 20 percent increase depending on the day,” Partrite said.

Many retailers said sales are also heating up for them with a lot of inland shoppers.

Dylan Defreitas owns three shops at Pier 39.

“We’re probably seeing about 20 to 30 percent more [customers]. It’s a big jump for us,” Defreitas said. 

Defreitas stocked up his stores with extra merchandise and added two to three more workers this weekend.

“Getting the stores with as full of products as we can. We have extra people here today. We’re probably going to be here late, we’re going to be staying late,” Defreitas said.

Not just the stores, but the local beaches were packed with people.

“We decided to have a fun beach day. We have a picnic going with some food and we’re just enjoying the nice heat,” said beach-goer Gemma Estevez, who was visiting from Southern California. Estevez and a group of friends were enjoying the sun at Crissy Field Beach.

Nearby Baker Beach and Ocean Beach also had a lot of visitors.

“It’s absolutely gorgeous with the view of the Golden Gate Bridge, which never gets old.  I might even get into the water today,” said beach-goer Chloe Neilson.

Some families also fired up the grills at the local beaches.

“Our house is way too hot right now. San Francisco doesn’t have A/C because it doesn’t typically need it. So, this is very unusual.  Better to get outside and enjoy it than to melt at home,” said San Francisco resident and beach-goer Emilie Boras.

While this heat wave was rare for San Francisco, Partrite said he and nearby business owners needed it. They were thriving under the sun.

“Anytime we can get this amount of people coming on a Monday to Thursday or Monday to Friday outside of our Summer months is a big bonus,” Partrite said.

With Fleet Week several days away, retailers believed any leftover merchandise that they ordered extra for this weekend would likely be sold by next weekend. They plan to staff up for the air show as well.

There may be no single Arizona Fall League hitting prospect that is more highly-touted than San Francisco Giants first baseman Bryce Eldridge.

The way he’s tracking, he could be with the parent club as soon as next season.

MLB Pipeline recently selected the top prospect for each Major League team going into the AFL, which starts on Monday. Naturally, Eldridge was the Giants’ selection.

There are players that are ranked higher in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 (Eldridge is No. 35). But there may be no 19-year-old player closer to the Majors than him, as he’s on a track eerily similar to that of former No. 1 prospect Jackson Holliday of the Baltimore Orioles.

San Francisco selected him No. 16 overall in 2023 and signed for $4 million out of Vienna, Va., as Eldridge turned his back on his commitment to Alabama and opted to start his pro career. Holliday did the same thing, passing on Oklahoma State (where his uncle is the head coach).

Post-draft, both played a handful of games after their selection. Holliday batted .297 with a home run and nine RBI in 20 games. Eldridge started with the Arizona Complex League Giants and then went to Class-A San Jose. He had a slash line of .294/.400/.505/.905 with six home runs and 18 RBI.

Holliday blew through the Orioles’ system in 2023. He played for all four full-season affiliate and had a slash line of .323/.442/.499/.941 with 12 home runs and 75 RBI. By season’s end he was poised to make Baltimore’s opening-day roster.

Well, guess what? Eldridge did the same thing this season. Starting at San Jose, he played his way up to Triple-A Sacramento and finished the season with a slash line of .291/.374/.516/.890 with 23 home runs and 92 RBI.

The AFL could be an accelerant for Eldridge. The Orioles didn’t send Holliday to the AFL last year. It didn’t really stunt Holliday’s development leading up to the Majors. He had a tremendous spring training earlier this year but didn’t make the Opening-Day roster. That appeared to be about Baltimore starting his clock later to control his player rights.

He eventually played 60 games and finished with a slash line of .189/.255/.311/.566 with five home runs and 23 RBI.

Eldridge heads to Arizona for extra at-bats and use it as a launching pad for next spring training, when Eldridge is sure to be a contender for a roster spot. As MLB Pipeline pointed out, “he has a huge frame (6-foot-7, 223 pounds) and huge power, and he’s also an advanced hitter with a good plan at the plate.”

The Giants could use some of that next season.  

The Arizona Cardinals travel to face the San Francisco 49ers in a crucial Week 5 NFC West battle that can see the squad either claim back some momentum or fall into a 1-4 hole to begin the year.

Both sides of the ball have tough tasks ahead of them when it comes to containing the 49ers – can Jonathan Gannon’s squad come out on top?

Our staff predictions reveal…. probably not.

Donnie Druin – Which Cardinals squad will show up? If we see what the Cardinals flashed in Week 2 against the Rams, we could be in business. However, Arizona’s been far too inconsistent to give any faith as road underdogs – especially against a 49ers team regardless of who suits up on the other side. Unless the Cardinals truly solved their defensive woes in one week, this could get bad. SF 30, AZ 17

Kevin Hicks – This could be something of a trap game for San Francisco – who handled a clearly inferior New England Patriots offense last week. The overall injury outlook is looking worse for them, and although the Cardinals aren’t the ‘07 Patriots, they have competed against two of the top five squads in the league this season. Expect a bounce back week for Kyler Murray, and for James Conner to make a mark, but the home field advantage and Brock Purdy’s MVP-level play this season result in the Niners pulling away in the 4th frame. SF 30, AZ 23

Jack London – it’s hard to come back from a game like the one Arizona had against a Super Bowl Contender. It’s not the offense I’m worried about in this game, but the defense, as Brock Purdy and Kyle Shanahan’s scheme had no issues putting up points last year. I don’t see that changing this year, even though I expect Kyler to play better along with the whole offense. Still not enough for an Arizona win though. SF 33 AZ 21

Kyler Burd – We are now three weeks out from an offensive performance against the Rams that is looking more and more like a flash in the pan. The offense and defense have alternated periods of decency with full quarters of dysfunction. This inability to get both phases operating at once has led to two straight losses, a close one against a very good Lions squad and an abysmal, embarrassing one against the Washington Commanders and former head coach Kliff Kingsbury. With as much flack as the offense has received from fans this past week, I do think Kyler Murray and the offense as a whole will look more competent, but expecting this sieve of a defense to do much against one of the most consistently good teams in the NFC is a fool’s errand. On the road, against a great roster and coach in Kyle Shanahan, I can’t see a way the Cardinals come out with a win. SF 34, AZ 21

Richard Bradshaw – The Cardinals were humiliated at home by the Commanders. To their defense, Jayden Daniels is playing like a legitimate league MVP candidate as a rookie, but there’s no excuse for the way the Washington defense bullied the Cards. I am worried about the direction of this team moving forward and a trip to The Bay to play a 49ers team that is trying to get their season back on track is not remotely ideal. Even if this game was in the desert, I’d still have the 49ers big. The Cards offense COULD rebound, but I’m not betting on it against a defense hosting Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, and company. I also doubt Arizona’s defense is prepared for San Francisco’s almighty offense. I got the Niners big in this one. SF 38, AZ 10