Twins pay visit to begin 2020

Coliseum opener again in daytime

Oakland’s 2020 schedule features, for the third year in a row, a true Opening Day — the A’s will play the Twins at the Coliseum on March 26 in an afternoon game that opens a fourgame series. The last time the teams met on Opening Day was 1991 in Oakland.

The season series with the Twins will be over licketysplit; the A’s first trip is to Minnesota, so the final game between the teams is April 5.

The second homestand includes two of the more popular visitors: The Yankees are in town April 1012 and Boston follows, April 1315. It’s shaping up to be a tough five weeks to start the season: Through the first weekend of May, Oakland is scheduled to play almost entirely teams currently in contention.

The Giants play at the Coliseum, June 67, and the A’s are at San Francisco, July 78. The rest of Oakland’s interleague schedule features the National League East, with home games against the Braves, Marlins and Mets and road games against the Phillies, Nationals and Braves.

The A’s seldom get trips that include Texas and Houston consecutively, a sticking point in many past schedules. This year, Oakland has one TexasHouston trip in September, but highlighting how absurd that pairing can be, earlier in the season, the A’s went from Houston to Baltimore to Texas. Next year, the A’s play the teams backtoback on the road twice.

The schedule is especially fanfriendly for family events: the A’s are in town for three major days on the calendar: Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and the Fourth of July.

Giveaways for fans,

charities: During four NBC Sports California telecasts — Thursday, Aug. 21, Sept. 3 and Sept. 6 this season — A’s fans can use a keyword revealed during the game to register for a $5,000 prize drawing. Winners can choose matching donations to go to one of several local charities: the Alameda County Community Food Bank, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oakland, Civicorps, BOSS — Building Opportunities for SelfSufficiency, MakeAWish Greater Bay Area, and the Oakland A’s Community Fund. A total of $20,000 will be distributed to fans and an equal amount to community organizations.