The A’s released their schedule for their inaugural season in Sacramento on Thursday, making their voyage to California’s capital more of a reality.
After opening up the season with four games against the Mariners in Seattle, the A’s will play their first regular-season game in Sacramento on March 31 against the Cubs, officially baptizing Sutter Health Park as a major-league stadium.
You can see the whole schedule on the A’s website.
Here are several key takeaways:
Get the air conditioning ready
When a recent heat wave struck California, there was no shortage of people who pointed out the discrepancy between the temperatures in Oakland versus Sacramento (and Las Vegas). In recent weeks, the game-time temperatures of contests at the Oakland Coliseum have sat in the 60s and 70s, but the temperatures in Sacramento raged in the 90s and 100s, touching as high as 110.
Next August, the A’s will play 15 of their 27 games at Sutter Health Park. The start times of those games have yet to be determined, but at least five of those games are likely to be day games, providing no protection from the beating sun.
While the Arizona Diamondbacks and Houston Astros’ home stadiums have retractable roofs and the Texas Rangers’ stadium is covered, Sutter Health Park offers no protection from the sun’s rays.
The A’s won’t get much of a reprieve from the heat when they travel next August either, set to face the Nationals in Washington D.C., the Orioles in Baltimore and Twins in Minneapolis.
More games against the Giants
The A’s have typically played four games against the Giants in recent years — two in Oakland, two in San Francisco. Next year, that number will be bumped up as every team will play six games against their prime interleague rival instead of four.
The green and gold will travel to San Francisco for a three-game set at Oracle Park from May 16-18, then host the Giants at Sutter Health Park on the Fourth of July, as well as July 5 and 6. Of course, with the A’s heading to Sacramento, their games against the Giants can no longer accurately be called the “Bay Bridge Series.”
Several holiday series await
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In addition to hosting the Fourth of July, the A’s will also host the Phillies during Memorial Day weekend (May 23-25) and theRangers during Labor Day weekend (Aug. 29-31). The A’s will also welcome both the Mets (April 11-13) and Yankees (May 9-11) to town as well.
The A’s will play 13 total games against their division rivals, welcoming the Rangers (April 22-24, Aug. 29-31), Astros (June 16-19, Sept. 23-25), Mariners (May 5-7, July 28-30) and Angels (May 19-22, Aug. 15-17) to Sutter Health Park on two occasions.
