Spring Training Game Thread #17: A’s vs. Giants

The A’s begin their final two games of the 2022 spring with a pair of games against the cross-town rival San Francisco Giants today, with left-hander Cole Irvin set for his final spring tune up.

The lineup has a few surprises in it today. With the morning news that infielders Christian Lopes, Drew Jackson, and Dalton Kelly (along with first baseman Eric Thames and catcher Christian Bethancourt) were all reassigned/outrighted to Las Vegas this morning, it’s curious to see those first three in today’s penultimate spring lineup. That said, those cuts means there is a strong chance that former A’s 1st-rounder Billy McKinney will break camp with Oakland and finally suit up in the Green & Gold in a regular season game. The roster is finally taking shape!

And in some non-game news, the A’s announced that Glen Kuiper (play-by-play) and Dallas Braden (color analyst) will be the dynamic duo in the broadcast booth this year, covering a whopping 159 out of 162 games for NBC Sports, with the other three on Apple TV+ (April 22nd) and FOX (July 30th and August 20th). It won’t be the same without Ray Fosse in the booth, but we’re lucky to have those two back calling games for the A’s this season.

Giants lineup (away)

1. RF Austin Slater (R)
2. DH Brandon Belt (L)
3. 1B Darin Ruf (R)
4. 3B Wilmer Flores (R)
5. SS Brandon Crawford (L)
6. 2B Thairo Estrada (R)
7. C Joey Bart (R)
8. CF Mauricio Dubon (R)
9. LF Luke Williams (R)

• RHP Anthony Desclafani

A’s lineup (home)

1. 1B Billy McKinney (L)
2. DH Jed Lowrie (S)
3. CF Ramon Laureano (R)
4. C Austin Allen (L)
5. 3B Sheldon Neuse (R)
6. RF Skye Bolt (S)
7. SS Drew Jackson (R)
8. LF Dalton Kelly (L)
9. 2B Christian Lopes (R)

• LHP Cole Irvin

How to watch/listen

• Date: Monday, April 4
• Time: 1:05 p.m. PT
• Streaming: NBC Sports site
• Radio: 960 AM
• Streaming (listen): A’s Cast